Reincarnation
by Demaon Sherlock
Summary: Harry and Ginny soul bond fic, with both of them having extraordinary powers, how did they get these powers? The clue is in the title.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The only thing preventing the hill top being completely deserted, was a solitary rabbit, hopping from one dew covered clump of grass to the next. This was the reason that no one witnessed the unusual sight of an extraordinarily old man appearing apparently out of thin air, no sound, no disturbance of the air around him, nothing, he simply appeared. Almost blind, the old man gazed westward, resting wearily on his wooden staff, he watched the sun disappear behind his destination; the fortress of Tintagel. Silhouetted against the setting sun, the once proud castle was now reduced to a few remaining towers and battlements, the majority of the structure now in ruins. Not wanting to stop for the night when he was so close, the elderly man did another extraordinary thing, with any apparent means of support, he slowly rose into the air, and slowly started drifting forwards.

A few minuets later he had reached the gatehouse of the fortress, lowering himself gently to the ground, he looked up, the man couldn't help but smile to himself, in a barely audible whisper, he spoke to the castle. "I'm home, my old friend, Merlin has returned to you Camelot."

Merlin, now approaching one hundred and ninety four years of age, with only his vast reservoir of magic keeping him alive, had been away for far to long, much longer than he had originally intended. Shuffling over the rotting drawbridge, he made his way towards one of the remaining towers of the main keep. Mounting the smooth stone steps, warn through years of use, he made his way upwards, towards the once sturdy oak door, which now was hanging from one twisted rusty hinge. Entering the circular main hall of the tower, he made his way through the thick layer of dust, over to a blank stone wall, relying on his memory, rather than his failing eyesight.

Ignoring the cobwebs that hung thickly from the crumbling masonry, Merlin raised his staff in his right hand and pointed it at the wall. Murmuring one word, "aperire", a faint orange glow emanated from the tip of the staff, and headed towards the wall. Where there had once been a solid wall, a rough stone arch now appeared, without hesitation, he made his way through the arch, to the top of a staircase that appeared to be hewn from the granite that the castle was originally built on. Merlin knew that there were nine hundred and forty two steps between him and his final destination, as he had built them himself, when had first moved to the castle. that had been over one hundred years ago, when his age was still in double figures.

Now though, was not the time for him to dwell on the past, he had a self appointed mission to complete, slowly he started descending the stairs that corkscrewed down into the bowels of the earth. A long while later Merlin eventually reached the bottom of the staircase, and stepped into a round room,which was lit by two torches mounted in metal sconces. The walls, ceiling and floor were all carved out of rock. Three doors, each identical in appearance, led from the round room, ignoring the doors to his left and his right, Merlin made his way to the door that was opposite to the entrance to the staircase.

Opening the door, he made his way into what was obviously a bed chamber, the only items of furniture in the room were a simple wooden desk, with a lit candle upon it, chair, and an ornately carved four poster bed, with dark red drapes and blankets. Closing the door behind him, he looked in the direction of the bed, with the dim light, and poor eyesight, he could barely make out the shape of the bed, instead he reached out with his magic, to 'feel' for the beds lone occupant. Shuffling over to the left side of the bed, with a wave of his hand, he conjured himself a simple wooden stool, sitting down, he reached out and grasped the withered hand that lay on top of the covers.

"Ninianne my love, I have returned to you", the occupant of the bed stirred, turning her head towards the sound of Merlin's voice. "Is that really you Merlin? Have you come to me?"

"Yes my sweet, I have returned, as I promised I would". Merlin sighed to himself, the lady in front of him, although nearly forty years his junior, was close to death. Had he returned any later, his journey would have been in vain.

"Were you successful in you quest? Did you find the knowledge that we require to perform the ritual?"

Merlin smiled to himself, after all these years, she was still straight to the point with her questioning. But then again, Subtlety had never been one of Ninianne's strong points, a trait that he had always admired.

"Mostly", he replied, "we will succeed with what we set out to do, but it will not be as complete as I had hoped."

Seeming to ignore his answer, the lady turned her head away from Merlin, and called out "Pendy, come to me". An old house elf appeared at her side, "yes my lady, what is it that you is needing?"

"Merlin has returned, please, would you be so kind as to bring us some refreshments". With that, and barely a glance at Merlin, the elf disappeared with a soft pop.

Again, Merlin chuckled to himself, "you always did have a knack for names, I had forgotten what you had called the little chap. Some how though, I don't think King Arthur Pendragon would have minded having a house elf named after him."

"You haven't met his son yet, I named him Lancey". This earned her another chuckle from Merlin, "you always did have a soft spot for Sir Lancelot if I recall".

A comfortable silence followed whilst hey waited for the elf to return, once he did, carrying flagons of wine, and bread rolls, Ninianne turned once again to Merlin.

"You said 'mostly', which part is missing?

After a few moments thinking on how to reply, Merlin finally spoke. "We will retain our magical Knowledge, power, and abilities, that is all"

Ninianne pondered his answer for a short while, before asking, "What about each other my love? Will we remember each other?"

"Alas not, though the method that we have chosen to complete our rebirth, will mean that we will be drawn to each other, this pull we will feel will make sure that will find each other. We will not be complete without the other, as our souls will be linked."

"Linked? I take it then that you have found us a suitable vessel in which to store our souls? One that will hold both of them?" She had asked the final question because they had discussed the idea before Merlin had left, but had not wanted to raise their hopes because the object required would need to be extremely magical, something man made wouldn't have worked.

"Yes my love, you will remember it as soon as you see it, although I had a hard time relocating it, it will be more than suitable". With that, Merlin reached in to his robes and withdrew a sword,the blade dulled by age, though the gems in the hilt still twinkled in the candlelight.

"Excalibur!" cried Ninanne, "how did you find it? I thought it lost many moons ago".

"The Goblins of the island of Avalon had it in their possession, which is unsurprising after all, as it is Goblin made, because of my help during the war between the goblins and giants, they agreed to let me have it."

Almost reverently, Ninanne reached out to touch the fabled sword, "Hello, old friend, it is good to see you again". The highly polished blade reflected the dim candle light on her wrinkled face as she slowly turned it. "It's been long, to long; I should never have let you go".

Merlin gazed fondly at Ninanne, remembering the last time that she had held the sword, indeed, it had been many moons ago. At that time,the people, commoners and noblemen alike, had known Ninanne as the Lady of the lake. A simple bubble head charm was all that it took for her to remain submerged in the dark, murky waters, so that she could claim Excalibur; never for it to be seen by non magical folk again.

Ninanne returned her gaze to Merlin, "What do we have to do? Will our original plan still work?"

Merlin couldn't look her in the eyes, she had pinned her hopes on him, and he felt that he had let her down. They had wanted to be immortal, helping magical and non magical people. sharing their knowledge, using their skills to help, heal and teach. Now he knew that wasn't to be, yes he had found the way to accomplish this, but it was at to high a price, a price that he knew they would not be prepared to pay. Instead he had been forced to find an alternative solution, not as good as they had originally hoped, but it would still allow part of their plan to work.

Merlin slowly raised his head, his eyes not quite meeting hers, "I traveled to Greece, as I knew I would have to. As you will recall, I had to research the work of Herpo The Foul. At first I wasn't sure where to start, But I had a piece of luck, I discovered a reference to his work in an ancient temple on the island of Kos. From there it was easy to trace the steps he had taken towards immortality. He had discovered a way to separate a piece of his soul from his body, and place it in a container, or as he called it, a Horcrux".

Ninanne looked hopefully at Merlin, "that's what we wanted to be able to do, with a piece of our souls tied to the earth, we would never be able to die. So tell me, what is that would prevent us from creating our own Horcruxes?"

Merlin finally brought his eyes up to meet hers, "in order to create a horcrux, an innocent life must be taken, as it is this that is required to split the soul. It is something I know neither of us would ever be prepared to do".

"But Merlin, you said you had found a way, that we would be able to separate our souls from our bodies, I take it that you have found an alternative method?"

"Yes, I have, Herpo discovered a similar ritual whilst he was developing his satanic method of immortality. It is a way of letting yourself be reborn, reincarnated, if you like. By storing our souls in the sword, we can allow our essences to be reborn, our magical knowledge and power will be transferred to two newborns. We will die, there is no escaping that, but the magical world will still benefit from what we have learnt during our lifetimes. I cannot say how long it will be before this will happen, as it will take a pair of souls that will need to be compatible with ours, they will obviously have to be magical, they will need to be pure of heart, noble of spirit and..."

"And? and what Merlin, time is short, this is no time to be withholding anything from me."

"And they will need to be born within a few months of each other, as our souls will not be able to be separated for long. For two such souls to be in existence at roughly the same time, it could mean that it will take meany hundreds, if not thousands of years to come about".

Ninannne was silent for a few minuets, "what will happen to the souls of the newborns? What about their magic, how will that be affected? Will they be harmed at all by us doing this? If so, then I refuse to go ahead with this, I will not allow anyone to be harmed because of our actions."

"Fear not my love, their souls will merge with ours, with nothing but positive effects, they will know what each other knows, see what each other is thinking, they will feel what each other feels, they will share their senses, eyesight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. They will have our magical power, as well as their own, conceivably, they could be more powerful than we are. The longer our souls are combined in the sword, the more pronounced these effects will be, if left long enough, they will be as one being in two bodies."

Merlin took a sip from his goblet before he continued.

"No harm shall come to them directly because of our actions. However, there is one drawback, as our and their souls shall be irreversibly combined, when one dies, the other will follow."

Ninanne closed her eyes while she absorbed all of this information, did they have the right to change people they will never know in such a way? She still had some questions for Merlin before she could make up her mind.

"Before I give you permission to continue with this Merlin, there are some things I need to be sure of, how can you be sure that this will work? has it ever been tried before? And what about my er... my special abilities, will the recipient of my soul also receive them as well? Not that I mind in the least, but will my soul go to a female, or a male?"

Merlin stroked his long beard whilst he pondered these questions.

"I will answer your questions, but not in the order that you asked them, firstly although the human soul has no gender, we will be reborn as we are, me male, you female, that is part of the ritual, although it could be changed, I feel that it would be best if we remain as we are. Secondly, yes, your special abilities will also be transferred, as it is a part of your magic. Did you think I had forgotten your Veela heritage? It is part of who you are, no matter how much you have tried to hide it in the past. Your first question is perhaps the easiest to answer, I know it will work, because it has already been done."

At this, Ninannes head jerked up to meet Merlin's gaze. Her eyes locked on to his, as if she was debating as to wether or not he was telling the truth. "Surely I would have heard of whoever has already done this?" Merlin stood from his stool and approach the bed, he sat on the edge and took one of Ninanne's hands in his. "You have heard of him my love, as I have already mentioned his name tonight. It was Harpo the foul who has already achieved this. What I am about to tell you is hard to believe, but it is the truth." Merlin paused to brush a lock of hair away from Ninannes eyes. "Harpo was a brilliant wizard, not as powerful as me, but my equal in knowledge. Fortunately for the world though, he was extremely unlucky, as I have already mentioned, he split his soul in two by brutally murdering a young man who was in his service. He stored one half of his soul in a magical urn, effectively rendering himself immortal. He chose a location to hide his soul container, his Horcrux, that he though would be totally safe, the city of Atlantis."

At this Ninanne gave a snort, Merlin simply smiled and carried on. "Exactly, we both know what happened there. Harpo was unwilling to split his soul further, and so he came up with the alternative method that I am proposing. Unfortunately for him he made some simple mistakes that led to his downfall. His first mistake was that he was reborn by a virgin, I would imagine the poor girl in question was terrified. His second mistake was not ensuring that the person who shared souls with him was noble and pure; and most importantly, magical. As I understand it, the person who shared souls with Harpo, was rather vain, who loved to show off his special abilities. He walked on water, turned water into wine, cured lepers and fed five thousand people by conjuring loaves and fish."

Ninanne gasped at this, "Merlin, are you implying that the whole Christian faith is based on a reincarnation of a deranged wizard?" When he merely nodded his reply, Ninanne simply shook her head. "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. I take it that we are the only two who know this?" Again, Merlin simply nodded.

Ninanne remained quiet for a long time, Merlin made no move to end the moment of silence, he simply sat on the edge of the bed, running his thumb over the back of her hand. Eventually she broke the silence, "then that is how it will remain, it gives people hope to believe that their is a higher being taking care of them."

The candle had by now burned half way down, and Merlin sensed that the lady in the bed before him was tiring quickly. "Have you come to a decision yet my love?" he asked. "I do not wish to rush you, but i feel that these old bodies of ours will soon be unable to carry on"

"Just one more question Merlin before I make up my mind, who will entrust with looking after our sword after we have gone?"

"Ah yes, I going to come to that, obviously it will have to be someone magical, one of the larger families I would think." Replied Merlin. "A family that has already proven that they will not be tempted by darker magic, so that will rule out the Black's, Malfoy's, Lestrange's and the Slytherin's. I had considered the Longbottom's, Hufflepuff's, Dumbledore's and even some of the older Scottish wizards, such as the Mcgonigall's. But I don't know them well enough to make an informed decision.

"So who will be entrusted with our Soul's?"

"I believe that there is only one family that we would both trust with this." answered Merlin, "the name of the family is Gryffindore."

"But they are not magical", protested Ninanne.

Merlin looked into her still clear chocolate brown eye's, eye's that had never aged, eye's that he could happily lose himself in. "While that was true about Sir Gwain Gryffindore, Knight of the round table, the same cannot be said of his grandson, Godric. You see, Sir Gwain's son, Godfrey, married the daughter of one of the more ancient magical families; her name is Lidia, from the house of Potter. She is also a direct descendent of the Peverall's."

Ninanne nodded her acceptance of Merlin's decision. "A wise choice I feel, I have had dealings with that family before, and have always thought them both honorable and trustworthy. When and how will you have the sword delivered to them once we have completed the ritual? And don't you think it would be wise to disguise it, after all, Excalibur is rather easily recognizable."

Merlin took the sword in his hand from where he had rested it at the foot of Ninanne's bed. Studying it intently for a few minuets, he seemed to be determining the best course of action regarding Ninanne's suggestion about disguising it. He eventually appeared to come to a decision. Lifting the sword so it was pointing towards the smooth rocky ceiling of the bed chamber, he slowly ran his left hand down the blade, until he reached the hilt.

"Will this be sufficient do you think?" asked Merlin, as he handed the sword, hilt first, to Ninanne. As she reached for it, she could tell that it wasn't the same sword she had received from King Arthur, many years ago. The blade now gleamed brightly, where it had once been dull, the gems that adorned the hilt had changed subtly as well. The major difference though, was the addition in bold script of the name Gryffindore, with the G near the hilt, and the E near the point, so that it had to be read downwards.

"I was planning on asking one of the elf's to deliver the sword to Gryffindor hall, once we have passed on. With a short note explaining that it was a present from us to the grandson of one of King Arthur's must trusted Knight's. Speaking modestly, I would hope that once he has learned from whom the gift was given, he will endeavor to take care of it. Once he in turn passes on, it will be in the hands of fate."

"I take it the transfiguration you have just performed is permanent?" Merlin simply nodded.

"Very well then, proceed with the ritual, I don't think I have much longer on this mortal plain."

Before he began, Merlin left her bed and walked over to the desk, picking up a quill he wrote a short note on a piece of parchment. Calling for Lancey the elf, who appeared before him with a pop; Merlin said, "your mistress and I will die tonight, do not be alarmed by this, as we have both lived long and happy lives. We have one last thing to ask of you though."

"The great and good Merlin asks something of Lancey? I would be honored sir"

Merlin handed to rolled up note and sword to the little elf. "I want you to take these to the house of Godfrey Gryffindore in the morning, once you have completed this task, you and your father will have no more duties, you may do as you wish. After that, these chambers will be sealed magically, so you will be unable to return here. Do you understand?"

"Oh yes sir", the elf replied whilst wiping a tear from its large bulbous eye. "It has been an honor to serve you master, mistress, do not worry about us, we will be finding work elsewhere."

With that, the elf disappeared, Merlin arose from the desk, carrying the sword, and approached the bed, sensing what he was about to do, Ninanne pulled back the blanket. Merlin sat on the edge of the bed, and after removing his boots, swung his legs onto it. Pulling the blanket over him, he placed the sword on top of the covers between them. Ninanne placed her hand on top of Merlin's, which was still holding the hilt.

As one, they turned their heads so that they were facing one another. "It is time Merlin, I have never told you this, but I love you, I always have, and if this works, I always will" Merlin Interlocked his fingers with hers, so they were holding each others hands, as well as the sword.

Both remained quiet, lost in their own thoughts, after a few moments, Ninanne spoke, "what do we have to do to complete the ritual?"

Merlin reached into his robes, and withdrew two small vials containing a clear amber liquid. Passing one to Ninanne, Merlin softly answered her, "all you have to do is drink this, it will make you fall asleep almost immediately, a sleep from which you will never wake. when you have done that, I have to recite a spell that will separate our souls from our bodies. Then I will drink my potion, and join you in permanent sleep."

Ninanne took the vial Merlin offered her, immediately pulled out the small stopper, and gulped back the contents. "Good night my sweet Merlin, I'll see you in the future." With that Ninanne started losing consciousness almost immediately, before sleep overcame her, one last thought entered her mind, one that had been bothering her ever since she had met Merlin. Why was it, that Merlin. the greatest, most powerful, most knowledgeable, most experienced, wizard ever to have lived, could not get his hair to lay flat?

Merlin knew that he still had a few minuets before he had to take his potion, with a single sweep of his hand, he ensured that the bedchamber was sealed, allowing for only more apperation in, and one disapperation out, so that the elves could carry out their final task. He pondered the choices he had been forced to make, he was certain that this was the only way to carry out their plan. But what of his other choices? He was sure that the sword would withstand the riggers of time, that it would be a suitable vessel for their most precious of cargo's, their very soul's. But what of the family that had the unenviable responsibility of being the one's to take ownership of it? Of course, that would not know the real importance of the weapon, to them it would purely be a parting gift from an old friend of the family. Were there other, more suitable families? Merlin had considered more families than he had told Ninanne about, the most prominent being the Weasley's, but they were currently involved in a feud with the larger Black family, and looked like they would lose all their wealth and property. If this did happen, the sword's ownership would also be transferred.

Merlin sighed as he realized that what was done was done, it was now to late to change anything, to late to worry about anything. Their future was now in fate's hands. He had tried to ensure that their future, if they had one, would be as comfortable as possible, he had deposited what money he had with the goblins, with instructions on how to recognize them in the future. That had been hard to explain, but being Merlin had some advantages. the Goblins had promised to invest his limited funds wisely, without asking to many difficult questions.

Knowing his time was nearly up, Merlin recited the long and complicated spell, this was made more difficult because it had to be done in ancient Greek. Satisfied that he had accomplished this part of the ritual correctly, he grasped Ninanne's rapidly cooling hand tighter, and pulling the stopper out with his teeth, swallowed his share of the potion.

Neither of them saw the effect the ritual had on their bodies, as they had all but left the mortal world. Spots of multi-coloured lights traveled down their arms to their joined hands and into the sword, eventually the stream of lights faded and stopped.

Silence and darkness greeted the lone elf when he appeared at the foot of the bed, with a snap of his fingers, a small flame sprung up above the bed, casting enough light for the elf to carry out his task. Stepping forward, he hopped onto the end of the of the bed, walking forward carefully, he took hold of the sword, and pulled it out of the combined grasp of the clearly dead couple laying in the bed. With one final look at his deceased master and mistress, he clicked his fingers again and the conjured flame extinguished, in the now complete darkness, the little elf, with his heavy burden, snapped his fingers was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two.

11th August 1981

Pain, excruciating, pounding, unrelenting pain. This was what filled little one year old Harry Potter's world. He had fallen asleep as normal, after playing with his father. The next thing he knew, his head was hurting; it began as a gentle pressure on his head, like when his mother held his head in her hands. But the pressure increased, as though someone was trying to push him forcefully through a tight elastic tube. Now the pain was spreading, it enveloped his whole body, he was vaguely aware that his parents were now in his room, but no matter how much he screamed, the pain showed no sign of lessoning.

He felt himself being picked up, probably by his mother, as she was the one who always took care of him when he was sick or scared. He could hear her soft voice trying to whisper soothing words, but they were having no effect, the pain was still there. Why was he hurting so much, what was happening to him? He felt himself being carried down the stairs, his parents were talking to each other, raised voices, his parents never raised their voices, something must be really wrong.

A spinning sensation, that must mean he was going somewhere, he had traveled this way before, when his parents had taken him to see his nice uncle Sirius. Maybe that's where they were going now, maybe uncle Sirius could stop the pain. His throat was hurting now as well, but he couldn't stop screaming, not until the pain went away, why couldn't his mummy do something, she could always make him better in the past. He felt the spinning stop, he dared to open his eyes briefly, just to see where he was, he was expecting to see his mummy, or his daddy, or maybe uncle Sirius, or even that kindly old man with the long white beard; who he had seen talking to his parents recently. He was shocked though, he could see his mummy, but it seemed as though he was looking through smoked glass, she was there, that was for certain, but he could also see darkness all around him.

Closing his eyes as quickly as he could, he concentrated on the one thing he could do, make as much noise as possible. Other hands were holding him now, strange hands, he dared not look, in case they were the cause of the pain. Slowly the unrelenting pressure on his head began to ease, then it was gone completely, but the pressure on his body continued. He opened his eyes again, just a crack, he could see his mummy and daddy standing at the end of the bed he was in. There was a stranger leaning over him, wearing stiff looking clothes, waving a stick, just like his mummy and daddy had, over him, though everything and everyone was still shrouded in the strange darkness. The pain on his little body was still there, as though someone was trying to now pull him through the tube that was still far to narrow.

The strange woman was talking to his parents now, some of the words he could understand, the majority though, he couldn't. He heard his name mentioned several times, as well as words such as scan, diagnostic and potions. These last words he couldn't understand, but sensed that they related to him. Then the pain was gone completely; that was his cue to stop crying, he still whimpered, but that was only because his throat was sore from when he had been screaming. He felt his mouth being pulled open, and a foul tasting liquid was poured into it. As soon as he swallowed whatever it was, even the pain in his throat lessoned.

He felt himself being picked up again, this time he opened his eyes fully, but what he saw almost caused him to start screaming again, his little brain couldn't comprehend what he was seeing, an adult might have described it like looking at your reflection in a sheet of glass, but also seeing some body else looking through the glass. He could see his mummy, but he could also see another woman; the stranger had a kind face, just like his mother had, but that was where the similarities finished. Where his mum had bright green eyes, the superimposed woman had warm brown ones, where his mum had a narrow beautiful face, the other was round and jolly, The hair colour was similar, but not the same, his mums was long, straight, and dark red, the strangers was short, curly, and bright ginger.

The only other thing the two faces had in common, was the look of complete, unconditional, love.

When Lilly and James Potter had first heard little Harry murmuring in his sleep, they initially stayed where they were. thinking that he would simply settle down. As his cries got louder, Lilly's maternal instincts kicked in, she could normally tell by his cries what he wanted, but the noise he was making now was unusual, very unusual. As Harry had grown older, his night time pattern had settled down, to the point where it was very rare for him to disturb his parents sleep.

After donning a dressing gown, Lilly entered his room; she rushed over to his cot, to find him flat on his back, waving his chubby arms and legs in the air, his face was screwed up and eyes firmly screwed shut, his mouth though, was wide open; the noise coming from it immediately panicked Lilly. James came into the room, also putting on his dressing gown, but Lilly paid him no attention, her focus completely on her son, gently she reached down, pulled back his blanket and lifted him out of his bed. Harry's crying had now reached a volume that his parents had never heard before, Lilly tried calming him, gently rocking him in her arms, and quietly talking to him, without any success what so ever.

"Lilly", said James, "what's up with him?"

"I don't know!" snapped Lilly in reply, "he's not hot, he hasn't wet the bed, I simply don't know"

"Ok, ok" soothed James, "lets get him to St. Mungo's, just to be on the safe side"

He led them down the stairs and into the living room, where, with a prod of his wand, he lit a fire in the hearth. Lilly stepped forward, with her free hand she grabbed some floo powder from the small jar that sat on top of the mantle. Crouching down, she threw the powder into the fire, causing it to turn green. She stepped into the cool flames, and shouted "St. Mungo's." James watched as his wife and son span away, after waiting a few seconds to allow his wife time to get out of the way, he followed her. Upon reaching his destination, James quickly caught up with his wife and screaming son.

Healer Maggie Burton was on her way to refill her coffee mug when she heard the floo activate in the main atrium, the unmistakable sound of a child in severe distress made her completely forget her coffee. Placing the empty mug on a near by table, she rushed over to the young couple.

"Help me! Help me!" screamed Lilly

"Here child, give me the little lad, we'll soon sort him out." Lilly handed Harry over to the elderly Healer, who, without saying a word, headed down a corridor that branched off of the reception area. Walking quickly, Healer Burton headed down the corridor, and turned left into an empty room. Placing the still screaming Harry onto the only bed in the room, she turned to the two parents that had silently followed her.

"What's has name, and what happened?" Her tone was soothing, her many years of experience showing in how she dealt with the distraught parents.

It was James that answered her, Lilly had walked to the other side of the bed and was brushing the jet black hair off of her sons forehead.

"His name is Harry, we don't know what's happened, we put him to bed at his normal time, around sevenish, we went to bed at ten, a couple of hours later we heard him murmuring in his sleep, but thought nothing of it, until he started crying properly. When he started screaming like this, we brought him straight here."

Healer Burton simply nodded as she set to work, pulling her wand out of her stiff uniform, she started running it over Harry's little body. Chanting softly, she went through the standard diagnostic spells, the ones that would normally reveal the most common ailments in infants. When her first set of spells showed no reason for Harry to be acting as he was, she switched to the more advanced spells, these were known to only a few of the more senior Healers. After a few minuets of further chanting, in which James and Lilly thought was Latin or Hebrew, Healer Burton turned to them with a confused expression on her face.

"Well, this is strange, I've ran every diagnostic spell I know, and apart from suffering from severe short sightedness, there appears to be nothing wrong with him. He's not suffering from any of the normal childhood complaints, I can tell you've given him all of the standard potions to prevent him catching Dragon Pox, Gnome rash and Goblin Influenza. I hate saying this, but I'm stumped"

As she finished speaking, she turned back to the bed. "Now then Harry my lad, what's all this fuss about? There's nothing wrong with you, and your scaring mummy and daddy." As she said this, Harry abruptly stopped screaming, he still whimpered, but this was no where near the volume that the screaming had been at. Lilly immediately reached down and picked him up.

"There, there sweetheart, mummy's here, you frightened me my darling, what was all that noise about?" As Lilly was speaking, another Healer poked her head around the door, "there you are Maggie, I've been looking for you, I just thought I'd let you know, The Weasley's have just had a little girl, the first in generations".

"Thanks for telling me Mirium, I'll be along as soon as I've finished with little Harry here, I'd like to see Molly again, I was on my to see her before this little lad grabbed my attention."Ok Mags, I'll let them know", with that the other Healer stepped out of the room, gently closing the door after her. Maggie turned and smiled at James and Lilly, "it's all go tonight, we have night's and night's without any excitement, and then everything happens at once." She then reached up and selected a small vile of potion from a rack above the bed. "This potion will help the soreness in his throat he's bound to have from all that screaming." Uncorking it, she gently pulled his lips apart and tipped the contents into his little mouth, making sue to close it quickly in order to prevent any being spilt.

Lilly turned to James and smiled at him, returning her smile, he placed his arm over her shoulders and looked down at Harry. "Well he looks like he's over whatever was wrong, thanks for everything", James said, looking up at the Healer. He then turned to his wife, are you ok now lil's?"

Blushing softly, Lilly nodded, "I'm sorry for snapping at you my darling, when I heard Harry, I was beside myself with worry". James simply lent over and kissed the top of her head. Turning to Maggie, Lilly continued "yes, thank you for helping us, and little Harry there."

Maggie Laughed, "not that I did a lot my dear, looks like he just wanted to be the center of attention for a while. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really want to see the couple in the room next door, I've helped deliver two of their six, no, now make that seven, children."

"Actually, we know the Weasley's, do you mind if we join you?", asked Lilly, "we won't stay for long, just to say hello and congratulations, after that we'll head off home and get Harry back to bed."

"Of course, I know it's the middle of the night, but I'm sure they won't mind, such a lovely couple", replied Maggie.

With that she led them out of the room they were in, turned left down the corridor, past sleeping portraits, and into the next room.

Molly Weasley was propped up in her bed, with three pillows behind her, in her arms was a tiny miracle, standing beside her was her husband, Arthur, looking down proudly at his wife and daughter, eyes still slightly puffy from the tears of joy he had shed when she was born. A gentle knock on the door interrupted the joyful scene, "enter" said Molly, never taking her eyes off of her baby girl. Four people entered the room, Healer Maggie Burton, and a young couple with a little boy.

"Hello Molly, how are you?" inquired Maggie

"Fine, thanks" replied Molly, still not looking up from the precious bundle held in her arms.

"I've brought some friends to see you, I hope you don't mind, they said they won't stay long"

Lilly and James approached the bed, with Harry still in Lilly's arms. Molly looked up at them and smiled a greeting before returning her gaze to her daughter.

"Hello Molly, Arthur, it's been a while", Lilly said softly, so as not to disturb the newborn. "I'm so glad your wish came true. A baby girl, you must be so proud."

It was Arthur who replied in a soft voice, full of love and emotion, "more than you'll ever know." looking up he seemed to come back to his senses, "James, Lilly, how delightful to see you, what are you doing here? Just come from a pajama party?" He quipped.

"It would seem little Harry here had other ideas about letting us have a uninterrupted nights sleep, we brought him in just to be on the safe side." James answered. "We had heard you two were expecting again, but had no idea you were here tonight until one of the Healers said your name"

Lilly placed Harry down on the end of the bed Molly was in, and went over to give Arthur a kiss on his cheek. "Well done you two, we're hoping to give Harry a brother or sister within the next year or two, as long as the war doesn't interfere."

Molly tried, and failed, to push herself further back onto the pillows behind her, wincing as she did so. "Are you ok Molly? do you need anything?" asked Maggie, who had been stood by the door.

"I'm a little sore down below", Molly replied, looking up at the Healer, "this one put up a bit of a fight coming out."

Lilly held up her hand before the Healer had a chance to say anything, "I know the very thing you need Molly". With that she withdrew her wand from her dressing gown pocket, and with a twist and a flick, she conjured an inflatable rubber ring. "Here, sit on this, it should help. Benefits of being brought up as a muggle." Molly accepted it with a grateful smile.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" inquired James, addressing both of them after Molly had settled herself with a sigh of relief. "Ginevra Molly Weasley" replied Molly. "Ginevra, what a beautiful name, quite unusual as well, I don't think I've ever met a Ginevra before, Welsh isn't it?" exclaimed Lilly

"That's right" agreed Molly, "roughly translated, it means 'fair'"

Whilst the adults were talking, Harry had started to crawl to towards where the baby girl was laid on Molly's lap, "Harry, be careful of Molly, she doesn't need you crawling all over her".

"Don't worry Lilly, he just wants to come and say hello to Ginevra, don't you Harry." With that, Molly lowered her daughter so that she was laid between her legs, she supported her head as she did so, to prevent it from being knocked. Harry crawled up, and gently reached out with his right hand, as though he knew that the baby in front of him was not something to be handled roughly. He placed his chubby little hand on the babies cheek, as he did so, her eyes, which had been shut, sprang open.

"Oh look Arthur", exclaimed Molly, "she has blue eyes, how wonderful, I've always wanted a blue eyed red headed girl in the family"

"Molly", interrupted Maggie "you of all people should know that all babies are born with blue eyes, even Harry there, with his striking green eyes, started out with them blue".

"Oh hush, I can dream can't I?" laughed Molly, looking back down at her daughter. They all watched, as Harry bent down and kissed Ginevra tenderly on the lips, only raising his head up enough afterwards to be able to focus on her eyes.

"That's my boy" cheered James, "just like his dad, falling for a redhead." Lilly gave him a warm smile at that.

"So then Arthur," continued James with a smirk, "fancy getting a cuppa, so we can leave these two to arrange the wedding?"

Molly and Lilly laughed as Arthur just gave a lopsided grin as he continued to watch the new addition to his expanding family.

"Come on James, lets leave them alone now, we've interrupted for long enough, we need to get Harry back to bed anyway" said Lilly, leaning forward to grab Harry around the waist. As she lifted him up, both children started crying, "There there Harry, you'll see your new girl friend soon", James said laughing. He put his arm around Lilly, who was trying to calm the little boy, and led them towards the door, which Maggie held open for them. As they reached the door, they turned and waved at Arthur and Molly, who was now rocking the still upset baby Gineavra.

"Take care you two", said Arthur to Lilly and James, "we'll have to keep in touch more often, I'll floo you as soon as we get the little one settled in at home, you can bring young Harry there over to play with Ron. Now Molly's got Gineavra to look after, it may stop him from getting jealous of her."

"Sure thing Arthur, just floo us when your ready, and we'll arrange a time." Replied James, "By the way, I take it Arthur junior will be retiring now?" he continued with a smirk. Before Arthur could think of a witty reply, Molly laughed and said, "retired and put out to pasture, he's not coming near me ever again, my poor old body needs a complete rest". They all laughed at the morose look on Arthur's face, "surely you don't mean that dear? lets not be hasty now."

James and Lilly laughed, as they left with the still crying Harry.

31st October 1981

Harry was bored, he had been put into his cot half an hour ago by his mummy, but still didn't feel sleepy. He turned his head to the right to look on that side of his room through the bars around him, nothing much to look at on that side of the room though. His toy broom was propped up in the corner, maybe daddy will let him play with that tomorrow, he thought to himself, but that didn't help him now. He looked up at the shelves above his bed, but they were well out of his reach, nothing of interest on them anyway, a few books and photo frames was all. Turning his head to the left, he looked around the other side of his room, again, nothing much of interest to look at there either. A wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and his toy box, lid firmly closed. He found it amazing that no matter how long it took him to completely empty it of its contents, everything was put back quickly and easily with one wave of mummy's stick. No, not stick, what was it that they called it? Wind, no, pond, no, that wasn't it either. Wand, that was it, mummy and daddy had wands. pleased with himself, he looked straight up at the three stuffed toys circuiting his head, a blue dragon, a yellow snitch, and a tatty old brown bear. His parents often sent his toys flying around his cot, and frustratingly, they were always just out of reach.

Finding nothing to occupy his inquisitive mind, he decided to simply shut his eyes and 'visit' his other house. Because he didn't know anything different, he didn't think it strange to be able to do this. Closing his eyes, he allowed the strange room to come into view, it didn't always work for him, sometimes when he visited, everything would be dark, although he was always able to listen, no matter what time of day or night. This time he was lucky, he was able to see; not only was he able to see, he was able to see clearly as well. Not like when he used his own eyes in his own home. Recently though, mummy had started putting strange things on his face, at first he had been able to knock them off quite easily, mummy had put a stop to that by tapping her wand on either side of his head. But at least he was now able to see like he could in the strange house.

Looking around the now familiar room, he could see the nice looking woman sitting on a chair with a pair of long silver sticks and a ball of wool. He was not able to look around as much as he could in his own room, something seemed to be preventing him from doing that; it was as if he was not strong enough to move his head. He had often seen other people there when he had visited before, a man, and several children, two of which looked the same. He had only realized this when he had seen them both at the same time. Harry was relieved that he was simply laying there, last time he had visited, he was being held by the jolly woman, and his face was very close to a naked large boobie; that had been a shock! His mummy never fed him like that, at least not that he could remember; it was a nice feeling though, to have the warm liquid flowing down his throat; although he never felt full afterwards.

He was brought back abruptly to his own room, something had disturbed him, he couldn't think what though until he heard shouting from downstairs. "Go look after Harry, get him out of here, while I hold him off", his daddy shouted. Footsteps, running up the stairs, then his mummy bursting into his room, turning around, she backed up to his cot, holding her wand out in a shaking hand towards the door. He then felt a presence, something that his young mind couldn't quite grasp, it felt bad, something that should be avoided, mummy didn't like it either, the way she was shouting at it. the nasty thing, whatever it was entered his room. Looking towards his door, past his mummy, he could see the blurry outline of a figure, the reason it was blurry was that he didn't have those uncomfortable things on his face. Whatever it was, was dressed in black, he could just make out a wand in the bad mans hand, he was talking to his mummy in a calm soft voice, that just didn't sound right to his young ears. His mummy was now crying, repeating the same thing, "take me, leave Harry please, please." Little harry didn't want his mummy to go anywhere, why was that nasty man in his room?

The next thing he saw was a green light coming from the strangers wand, heading straight at his mummy, when it made contact, she fell to the floor, unmoving. This was when Harry started crying, why didn't his mummy or daddy come to him? They always did when he cried, he wanted his mummy to get up, to make the nasty feeling man go away, instead he came closer to his cot. As he got closer, Harry could make out more details of the mans features through his tears; what he saw really frightened him, the nasty mans skin was grey and smooth, his head completely hairless, his nose, if you could call it that, was two vertical slits in his face. The most striking feature though, were his eyes, cold, dead, soulless eyes, no hint of emotion contained within them. The stranger lent over Harry's cot, running the end of his wand down the side of his face, under his chin, then back up the other side, stopping over his right eye. The nasty looking and feeling man then screamed two words, "Avada Kedavra!" Little Harry Potter's world went blank.

Just over two hundred and thirty miles to the south-west, little Ginevra Molly Weasley let out a piercing scream, her mother immediately dropped her knitting, and rushed to kneel next to her daughter, lying in her crib in front of the fire. What she saw when she reached her made no sense to Molly, a vivid lightning bolt mark on her daughters pale forehead. As she watched, the mark slowly faded, and the disappeared completely. Molly gently lifted her daughter out of the crib, studying here for any sign of abnormalities. Arthur and five of her six sons came rushing into the living room, Ron was safely upstairs in his new room, having moved out of his parents room when Ginevra was born. They had been tidying up in the kitchen after the Halloween feast the family had earlier in the evening; that is to say the three eldest boys, Bill, Charlie and Percy and Arthur had been tidying, the three year old twins, George and Fred had been filling Arthur's slippers with flour.

Arthur held his hands up to indicate that the boys shouldn't crowd their mother and sister, kneeling in front of his wife, he looked at his daughter, whose eyes were open and blazing furiously at them. "Is everything all right my love? What in Merlin's name caused her to cry out like that?" Arthur asked, "I don't know Arthur" replied his wife, her voice still shaky from the shook she had received, "I was doing my knitting when she cried out, I immediately went over to her and picked her up, the strange thing is, that a mark was on her forehead, a bit like a zigzag line, but nothing fell on her, the fires not to hot, and you lot weren't even in the room. It faded within a few seconds, I've no idea what it was, do you think we should get her checked out?"

Arthur studied his daughter for a few moments, "no, I don't think that will be necessary, she obviously fine now, I can't see any evidence of the mark now. we'll keep a close eye on her tonight. Perhaps a couple of extra charms on her cot just to be on the safe side." he said while gently stroking her soft downy hair.

Harry was awakened when he was lifted from his cot by a pair of hands so big, his body could have fit into the palm of one of them. As he opened his eyes, he knew he was higher in the air than he had ever been before. Bending his neck to look around for his parents, he remembered the nasty man from the night before, doing so caused him to start crying.

"There, there, my little man, there ain't no need for tha', Hagrid's got you now, you'll be safe where I'm takin' you, Professor Dumbledore seen to it 'imself personally."

The huge man who the hands belonged to, so tall he had to stoop to stop his head from banging on the ceiling, and so wide, he had to turn sideways to get his bulk through the doorway, carried Harry past the body of his dead mother, pausing to stomp on the black robes, that was all that was left of the most evil, malevolent, wizard to have ever walked the earth..

Pausing, he turned to look back in the room, seeing a tatty old brown bear laying on the floor beside the cot, he stooped back under the doorframe and retrieved it, along with a blue blanket from the bed sheets. Walking down the stairs, past the body of the lads dead father, Rubius Hagrid turned before exiting the house, a solitary tear ran down his nose, and dripped onto the still bleeding forehead of Harry Potter.

As he left the house, he heard the sound of an approaching motorbike, looking up into the still dark sky, he could see a single headlight approaching quickly from the south, with his free hand, Hagrid released the huge crossbow he had strapped across his back, already loaded, he aimed it at the motorbike as it drifted down and made contact with the dark tarmac of the road. The rider, unfazed by the sight of the massive man brandishing such a lethal weapon, dismounted the bike after silencing the engine, and strode towards the house.

"Sirius, is tha' you?" said Hagrid

"Yes, it's me Hagid", here take my bike, get the boy to safety, I'll deal with things here". With that the rider gave the keys to the bike to Hagrid after he had stowed his crossbow on the back of the bike.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I know tha' they were good friends of yours, it looks like little 'arry 'ere beat him thou'. Nowt left of 'im there ain't, only 'is cloak, even 'is wand is gone."

Sirius seemed not to have heard him though as he entered the house without looking back.

"Come on then 'arry me boy, lets get you to safety, there's still some bad people we 'ave to look out for. I'll just tuck you in the inside of me coat 'ere, where you'll be safe and warm."

With that Hagrid mounted the bike, and after kicking it into life, activated the flying charm with a flick of a switch, and took off towards the south.

**Authors note.**

**Thank you to all those who gave me such good reviews for my first chapter, this is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction story, so please have patience with me.**

**DS**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

31st July 1986

The muffled sound of the television in the living room was the only thing that six year old Harry Potter could hear. His Uncle, Aunt and cousin made absolutely no sound as the sat it front of it, totally absorbed by what they were watching. Any normal six year old boy would be playing with toys, watching tv right along side them, reading a comic, or any number of other things. But Harry was not any normal six year old, he was different, for example, today was his sixth birthday, most normal six year olds would have had a special breakfast, or had friends around to play, or their parents would have had something special planned. But not Harry, he was despised for what he was, a wizard. He had been left with his with his mothers sisters family by people who never even bothered to check up on him.

Harry's day had started like every other day, at five thirty in the morning, no one had to wake him, he had no alarm clock or any other means of making sure he woke up on time, experience had taught him a harsh lesson, if he wasn't up on time to make the others breakfast, he was beaten, severely. So far in his young life, he had received two broken arms, one broken leg, five broken ribs, had his jaw bone fractured twice, and twelve teeth had been knocked out. Most normal children would have either died because of this sort of abuse, or would have been taken into care by the authorities. But the authorities didn't even know the Harry existed, unlike his cousin, Dudley, he didn't go to school, he had no birth certificate, the only muggles that were aware of him were in the house right now, and that suited them just fine. Given time, normal wizards would have had their magic repair those kind of injuries for them, a lot faster than was ordinarily possible. But Harry's injuries were repaired almost instantaneously, without even taxing has still immature magical core. Bones straightened and snapped back into place, teeth re grew and cuts and bruises healed themselves without any outside intervention whatsoever. The only downside to this was that it infuriated his relations even more.

His day had gone reasonably well, he had made every one their morning meal, he had even managed to sneak himself a couple of bits of toast. The others had left him alone after that leaving him to get on with the chores he had to do daily, the washing, ironing, cleaning and vacuuming. He had then prepared the midday meal for his aunt and cousin, being a Thursday his Uncle was at Grunnings, the drill making company for which he worked. After he had done the washing up, he was expected not to be seen until he had to make the evening meal, making sure it was on the table five minuets after his uncle returned from work. Today, like every other day, he had retreated to the cupboard under the stairs, the only place in the four bed roomed house he was allowed to sleep; today, like everyday, he had allowed his concentration to slip so he could go and visit Ginny in her house, he had learned as soon as she had learnt to talk, that she hated the name Ginevra, the link he had with her was the only thing that was joyous in his miserable excuse for a life.

He had felt their link strengthen over the past year, he could see everything she saw, smell everything she smelt, hear everything she heard, taste everything she drank or ate and feel everything she touched. If she hurt herself, he felt the pain, if she learnt something, he knew it to. That was why he was so good at maths and English, despite his family never teaching him anything except how to do his chores properly. Harry was unsure if Ginny knew of his presence, but as the link had strengthened, he had caught her looking at her hands when he was holding something hot, or shielding her eyes when he looked at the sun. What pleased him most though, was when she looked into a mirror, he loved to look at her as she brushed her long red hair, no, red wasn't the best colour to describe it , it was as though each strand was a slightly different shade, combining to form a indescribable kaleidoscope of red. When the sun shone through the window behind the mirror, it was as though her head was surrounded by a halo of fire, a dancing, living entity, that shone with a vibrancy that chilled him to the bone.

Her face was heart shaped, with a smattering of freckles over a cute little button nose, with full pale lips. Her most striking feature by far were her eyes, almond shaped, pale brown in colour with a hint of gold near the center of the iris. They blazed with an intensity and passion he had never seen before, despite this they were always smiling, hinting at a life full of joy and fun, without a care in the world. Those eyes would haunt Harry where ever he went.

He had known of magic for as long as he could remember, he had seen Ginny's mum and dad, Molly and Arthur, doing magic around their house, outside in their garden, normal everyday spells and charms that made life that little bit easier. So far he had not attempted any magic himself, not because he didn't have a wand like Ginny's parents did, but because he knew that if he did, he would get the beating of a lifetime. He had been tempted to do magic for a long time though, to see if he could copy what he had seen Ginny's parents doing, to see if it could make his life any easier. Laying awake after he went to bed, usually after he had finished the evening meals washing up, he had felt his magic coursing through him, it felt strong, it felt powerful, as if wanting to be released.

Today had stopped going so well when his uncle, Vernon Dursley, had returned home, he had complained that his potato's were cold, and had refused to eat them After he had finished the rest of the meal, the huge, obese man had gone out to the garden shed, picked up a cricket bat, and gone back inside in search of Harry. Harry was in the kitchen at the time, finishing off the last of the washing up. His uncle strode up behind him, lifted the bat high into the air, a brought it down intending to finish off the little freak in front of him once and for all. Harry heard his uncle approaching just in time, hands still covered in suds, he closed his eyes and raised his right arm, instinctively trying to protect his head. The blow never came, instead Harry heard the sound of the willow bat splintering. Opening his eyes, he saw his uncle looking at the shattered handle of the bat stupidly, as if not comprehending what had happened. The rest of the bat lay on the highly polished kitchen floor.

Harry then understood what had occurred, he had felt his magic respond to the threat his uncle imposed, channeling itself into his arm, and protecting him.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Bellowed his uncle, angry but frightened at the same time. Walking past his aunt, Petunia, who had witnessed, and ignored, the whole drama, Harry made his way down the hall, he heard someone, probably his uncle, following him. As soon as he entered the cupboard under the stairs, the door was slammed behind him. A short while later, he heard the unmistakable sound of a plank being screwed into place across the doorway. His uncles voice then boomed through the small vent near the top of the door.

"I'd like to see how long you can survive without food and water you fucking little shit. Die quickly, I want my cupboard back!"

Then heard a second person approach the door, "why can't we just dump him at an orphanage? "he heard his uncle ask.

"Because of that interfering old fool, at that school for freaks would find out. He would force us to take him back. This way we'll be rid of him for good, he won't be able to do us or Dudley any harm. He's only six, and you've just seen what he's capable of. No, this for the best, as soon as he's dead, we'll move. Those freaks won't be able to trace us if we're careful."

All he heard from outside the door was a grunt in response from his uncle.

The next five days were the most frightening of Harry's life, his uncle had made good on his promise of no food or water, any noise he made was rewarded by his uncle banging on the door and telling him to "shut the fuck up". He had been forced to use the one of the corners under the stairs to go to the toilet, and now the smell was almost unbearable. At first he had spent some of the time visiting Ginny's house through her, but the sight of a kind, loving, caring family only caused him to get depressed. On the sixth day he started to panic, he had no idea how long he had been locked up, no idea what the time was, the only thing he did know, was that he didn't have long left. He had heard his uncle leave for work, and his aunt take Dudley to school, so he knew the house was empty. Closing his eyes, he used the link to see what Ginny was doing, she was lounging by a wide, deep, pond; sunlight streaming through the leaves of trees that grew around it. As far as he could tell, she was alone, calling on the last of his strength and all of his magic, he screamed her name out loud.

"GINNY!"

Two hundred and twelve miles to the west of him, a little girl, just about to turn five, sat up abruptly. Someone had called her, she was sure of that, but who? Her mother was in the house, her father was at work, her two eldest brothers, Bill and Charlie, charged with her safety, had gone off on their own, Ron and the twins were degnomeing the vegetable garden, closer to the house, the other side of the small orchard. Her sixth brother, Percy was visiting her aunt Muriel. Seeing nobody close, she tentatively spoke, "Hello"

Back in his cupboard, Harry was having trouble controlling his magic, never before had he let it have free reign, it felt as if a dam had burst inside him, and now his magic was quickly filling him up. Not knowing what to do, he focused it at the link with Ginny, unknowingly opening it wide. He was flooded with what he could only describe as everything 'Ginny', her likes, her dislikes, her emotions, love, hate, anger, kindness, and a lot more that he never even knew existed. He had thought he knew her quite well, but now it felt as if he was part her, and she part of him.

In a blind panic, he searched through her memories, which were now as vivid as his own, for something, anything, to help him. Going through everything she had done today, yesterday, the day before, eventually he found a suitable one, "yes!" he cried in relief. Concentrating on the memory, he brought it to the front of her mind.

Ginny was still looking around for the scared sounding little boy that had called out her name. when a memory forced itself into her minds eye.

"Harry Potter", she whispered to herself, "Harry Potter", she said a little louder. Why was she thinking of Harry Potter? She hadn't heard one of her father's 'Boy-Who-Lived' stories for a couple of days, she had been meaning to ask her father for one this evening, when she went to bed. But what was causing her to think of him now?

'_Ginny_', Harry thought, picturing her reflection in the mirror. '_Ginny, speak to me, please, use your magic, speak to me_'

Little Ginny was now getting very scared, although she would never admit it, not only did she hear someone call to her when there was clearly nobody about, now she was hearing a voice inside her head, this was far from normal, even for a witch. '_Hello, who are you?_' she thought back tentatively after a few moments.

_'Thank you, thank you for answering me, I know your frightened, don't be, I don't want to hurt you. My name is Harry Potter, the boy who your daddy tells you stories about sometimes, when you go to bed.'_

Ginny pouted, like only a four, nearly five year old girl, can do. how dare anyone, even someone in her head, tell her that she was frightened.

_'I'm not frightened, you made me jump, that's all...how are you talking to me anyway? Are you really The-Boy-Who-Lived, the one who beat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, when you were a tiny baby?_

If he were not so weak from lack of food, Harry would have laughed at the feelings of indignation and inquisitiveness flowing off of her.

_'I don't know about the rest of that stuff, but I guess I'm using magic to talk to you'_

_'Cool', _replied Ginny _'you must be really powerful to do this, daddy said you beat the most evilest, naughtiest, badest, wizard ever, without a wand or anything!'_

_'like i said, I don't remember any of that stuff, but I need your help Ginny'_

_'How do you know my name? Mummy said to never tell strangers your name, and how do you know daddy tells me your stories at bedtime?_

Harry could tell that Ginny was getting over the shock of having someone talk to her in her head, so instead of trying to answer her questions, he sent her all his memories, everything he could recall, everything he had experienced, he didn't send it all in one go, that would have been to much, instead he trickled it through. After about ten minuets, he finished.

Ginny sat there wide eyed, her initial doubts about the link completely gone, she felt her magic stirring, unconsciously making her end of the link stronger;she now shared with Harry everything he shared with her. She could see through his eyes, which made her wonder why he was in almost complete darkness,

she could feel his severe hunger and thirst, she could smell the stench in the cupboard, and she could feel how absolutely terrified he was of his family.

Without conscious thought, she sprinted as fast as she could, from the pond, towards the house, screaming "MUMMY, MUMMY" over and over, at the top of her lungs.

Ignoring her two eldest brothers who had started to follow her from the tree house they were building. She ran through the orchard, past the vegetable garden, where Ron, with George and Fred, her twin brothers, half stooped from their search for gnomes, looked at her with shook; right up to the kitchen door, slamming it open, she ran through to the pantry which her mother had just come out of after hearing her daughter screaming for her.

"Come quick, come quick, you have to save him, their killing him, you've got to do something, please mummy, help him!"

Molly Weasley looked form her daughter to the kitchen door, where her sons, after hearing their sisters screaming, had gathered. She was expecting to see one of them missing, but they were all there.

"Who Ginny, who's killing who?"

"HARRY POTTER!" She screamed "Please help him, he's dying", and with that she broke down sobbing.

"What have you been telling her" she said to her sons, who were still gathered by the door, the blank look she received from all of them told her that whatever had upset her daughter, had not been caused by any of them.

"Did you fall asleep? maybe you had a bad dream darling", she asked her whilst raising a questioning eyebrow at Bill and Charlie, who were supposed to have been looking after her. Their guilty glances at each other was not missed by Molly.

"I'll deal with you two later"

From his cupboard, Harry had seen and heard everything as clearly as if he had been there, _'please make her believe you, I need your help Ginny'_

"He needs my help now, please take me there mummy" she sobbed to her mother.

"I'm sorry Ginny, I can't, I don't even know where he is, now calm yourself, and tell me how you know this" Molly replied in a soothing voice.

Hearing this through Ginny, Harry felt his hope fade, she was the only way he could see of getting out of there. Summoning his magic, he concentrated on Ginny, and pulled. He could feel his magic doing what he wanted it to, he wanted her to be with him, to be able to rescue him.

Ginny felt a pull on her magic, she knew the pull came from Harry, so she just let it take her, knowing instinctively that she would come to no harm. Taking a firm hold of her mother, she looked up at her.

"I can't tell you mummy, i don't now how myself, but I can take you to him.

"how..." was all that Molly could say before she and her daughter disappeared from the kitchen of their home without a sound.

Instantaneously they reappeared in the hallway of an obviously muggle home, Molly slowly rose from the kneeling position where she had been comforting her daughter a few moments ago, looking around at the spotless decor of the house they were now in. "Where...?" was all she managed to say. Ginny however had rushed over to the cupboard door, grabbed the handle, and using all her strength, pulled. The short plank screwed to the door frame didn't budge though.

"Mummy, mummy, he's in here, he's trapped"

Shaking her head to try and clear it, Molly withdrew her wand from her apron pocket, aimed it at one of the screws buried deep into the wood, and muttered "Accio screw", the screw came flying straight out, splintering the wood as it did, and hit the wall opposite. She repeated this for the other five screws, when the last one had come out, the plank fell to floor, kicking it aside, she flung the door open.

What she found when she looked in the cupboard, would stay with her for the rest of her life. Various things impacted her senses at the same time, each one trying to be more horrific than the next. The first, and most obvious, was the smell, the horrendous stench that came from the tiny enclosed space almost made her lose her breakfast. She had to take a step back, it was so overpowering.

The next was the sight of a child, a terrified half dead child, arms and legs so thin, they looked like sticks. Hair, long, greasy and matted, fell over his ears and forehead, he was dressed in only underpants, which at one time might have been white, but now she could not be sure. Surrounding him were rags, obviously meant to be his bed covers, although there was no sign of a bed, just the cold hard concrete floor. She could quite easily count his ribs, so pronounced were they through his pale skin. His eyes, the colour of emeralds, shone out at her from the darkness, hope, relief, and deep, deep, gratitude showing clearly in them.

The last though, was the feeling of absolute power radiating from the emancipated child in front of her, so much power it scared her.

Ginny squeezed past her, into the tiny space, crouching down, she took one of Harry's hands in her's

"Cor, you stink, lets take you home to properly meet my brothers, you'll like them."

In the north west of the Scottish Highlands, stood Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, at the top of one of the taller towers was the office of the headmaster, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. At this particular moment in time he was very contented, he had just finished an early meeting with the school board of govoners, and had got his way on everything he wanted. He had complete control over hiring and firing of staff, complete control over all budgeting, and most importantly, complete control over what was taught. this had been an issue with the Ministry for many years, but they had finally relented. Yes, today was a very good day indeed.

A loud whistle from one of the delicate instruments on a bookshelf changed his mood dramatically, this couldn't be, it had to be a mistake. that single whistle indicated the blood wards, so carefully crafted by himself five years ago, had been breached by a witch or wizard. Grabing his wand from where he had left it on his desk, he apperated into the back garden of number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surry. Opening the rear door with a quick 'Alohomora' he made his way quickly through the ground floor of the house, finding it deserted, he went to the already open front door. Looking out, down the perfectly straight garden path, leading to the deserted road, he saw a short dumpy woman, with bright ginger hair, a young girl, no more than four or five, and in the arms of the woman, what he thought was a house elf, just about to exit the garden.

"Stop!", commanded Dumbledore.

Molly spun round at the sound of his voice, wand already in her free hand, pointing straight at him. "Albus, thank Merlin you're here, we have to get this boy to St. Mungo's, he's been dreadfully abused by those bastard muggles."

Ginny was shocked, her mother never, ever swore, not once, in as long as she could remember. If she heard any of her brothers swear, the punishment were always swift and severe, not that her mother was abusive or cruel, she had never raised a hand to any of them, but at the same time, they knew never to cross her.

If Dumbledore was surprised that the bundle contained a boy, and not an elf, as he first had thought, he didn't show it. Instead he stepped out of the house, and tried to portray the authoritative figure that he knew was so well respected.

"That will not be possible Molly, you see, to take Mr. Potter out of the protection of the blood wards that surround this property, would place him in grave danger. I must insist that you bring him back inside.

Molly placed Harry on the ground beside Ginny, "Please look after him for me Ginny, this shouldn't take long."

Ginny had never seen that particular look on her mothers face before, she had seen expressions that had been close, like when the twins had spellotaped Ron's mouth shut, nearly suffocating him, they had been in so much trouble after that. But looking at her mother now, she knew that the old man in front of them had gone way past even that.

Molly Weasley, five foot nothing of unstoppable force, turned around and marched up to Dumbledore, stopping only inches away from him, looked up and asked in a strained but polite tone; "do you mean to tell me you knew about this? You knew he was living in these conditions? You knew he was being treated worse than an animal?"

If any of her family, her husband included, had been spoken to by her in such a tone, they would have ran for their lives. But Dumbledore was trying his hardest not to be intimidated by the indomitable witch in front of him. Instead he tried his most Grandfatherly voice, the one he had used that very morning to get his way with the board of governors.

"My dear Molly, it can't be that bad surely? I know these muggles are not the best sort, but he is safe here; he may be a little thin, but I'm sure if I talk to his relatives, they will make sure he eats more. Now why don't we put Harry back in the house, and I assure you I will make sure that no more will be said of this. I suggest you collect your daughter, and we go to the Burrow and discuss this over a cup of your delicious tea."

Molly was beyond furious, this meddling old fool thought the poor boy wrapped up in the dirty stinking rags, was just a bit thin!

"That is not just thin, he is dangerously emancipated, he could be dead in a few more days, he was trapped in a cupboard under their stairs, He. Will. Not. Be. Staying. Here!"

As Molly spoke, the volume and, in relation, her anger, rose. She knew that she had never been this angry before, and if the meddling old fool in front of her was not very careful, he would wind up seriously hurt, powerful wizard though he was.

"That is simply not possible Molly, he has to stay, why don't we go inside, I think the neighbours may be watching"

With that, Dumbledore nodded to the house next door, number two, where the curtains were twitching.

"Well there maybe one way that I'll let him stay." Molly replied, in a much quieter voice, totally ignoring his request to go inside.

Dumbledores eyes twinkled merrily, whatever the interfering housewife wanted, he was sure that it wasn't going to be to difficult to give her. Then he could concentrate on more important matters, like how they had breached his wards in the first place.

"Whatever it is Molly, I'm sure we can reach a compromise to make everyone involved happy."

"Well Albus, the only way I can possibly let Harry stay, WILL BE OVER MY STONE COLD DEAD BODY!"

With that she whipped her wand up and held it right under the unsuspecting wizards nose. Dumbledore weighed his options carefully, he had no doubt that he could defeat her even though his wand was still tucked away in his robes, there was no way she could be as powerful or skilled as Grindewald or Voldemort, was there? But there were to many muggles around, the obliviators from Ministry would have to be called, and they would ask awkward questions. Questions he was not prepared to answer at the moment. No the best course of action would be to admit defeat gracefully, he could always take the boy back at a later.

"As you wish Molly, I do hope however that you will reconsider at a later date."

With that, he took a step back, gave a slight bow, and turned back into the house so that he could disapperate back to Hogwarts.

Molly huffed, after a moment to get her temper back in check, she turned back to the children. "Now then, lets get you both home, I think a drink is called for, then I need to write some letters."

She said the last to herself, as she knew that Dumbledore did not usually give in so easily. She was formulating plans to prevent him from trying to take the boy sometime in the future. Picking Harry up off of the perfectly manicured grass, she held her daughters hand, after checking no muggles were looking, and tried to disapperate to the Burrow. Nothing happened, she was still standing in the front garden of number four.

"Ok then kids, looks like we are going to have to get away form those nasty wards that Dumbledore spoke about." With that she turned, and started walking down the street. Five minuets later, she felt that they had moved far enough away to be able to attempt to dasapperate again. Just as she was about to spin, she noticed a thin, horsey faced woman approaching on the same side of the road as them. Although she didn't really care about muggles seeing her do magic in an emergency, she knew that she would have trouble with the Ministry if she performed it without being at least a bit careful. So she decided to wait until the woman had past.

She knew something was wrong when she felt Harry stiffen in her arms, his bright green eyes wide with terror, she then felt a warm liquid run down her side, whoever this woman was, had made him so scared he had wet himself.

It was Ginny's insistent tugging on her other hand that next got her attention, looking down at her daughter, she saw the same look of terror mirrored on her face.

"It's her mummy, it's his aunt, don't let her take him!"

Molly moved into the woman's path, blocking her path.

Petunia walked up to the strangely dressed woman and her daughter, looking down her nose at them as she did so, riffraff like them didn't belong in this neighbourhood, what was the place coming to? She would be be glad when she, Vernon and Dudley moved somewhere nicer.

"Excuse me", she said in her 'I'm better than you' voice.

But the strange woman refused to move, it was then she noticed the bundle held in the woman's arms, a bit old to be having babies, was all she thought to herself as she stepped into the road in order to get around the weird family. She was brought to a halt when the dumpy little woman let go of the little girls hand, reached into a pocket, and pulled out a wand. She recognized it for what it was because her sister had had one when she went to that school for freaks.

Molly made no effort to hide her anger this time, stepping up close to the despicable excuse for a human being in front of her, she slowly and forcefully spoke.

"It is at times like these, that I wish we had no statute of secrecy, it is at times these that I wish I was allowed to simply kill you, and do the rest of the world a favour. But I'm not, but let me tell you this, if I ever see you again, I'll happily change you into a toilet roll, and we both know what there're used for, don't we, consequences be damned!"

With that, Molly barged past her, almost knocking Petunia into the path of a passing car. When she felt she was calm enough, and far enough away, she turned into a narrow alley, and successfully disaperated home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

They appeared with a loud pop, Molly had to take a few seconds to get her breath back, side along apperating two others, as small as they may be, was very tiring. They had arrived at the end of a narrow, hedge lined lane, the lane disappeared in to the distance, between the tree covered slopes of a shallow valley. Behind them was the main road that led to the small Devon village of Ottery St. Catchpole, hoisting Harry up to her hip, she started down the lane towards the Weasley home, The Burrow.

It was a beautiful summers morning, the sky was blue, and the sun shone right down the valley. Normally when out walking with her daughter, Molly would stop and pick some of the wild flowers that grew at the lane edge, but today she didn't even notice them. She knew she had to get Harry home as quickly as possible, she would have apperated them closer, but the wards that protected their home prevented that. Reaching a wooden five bar gate, she quickly swung it open, allowing the rusty metal spring to shut it behind them, they were now on their property, rounding a bend in the lane, she could see the roof of her home in the distance.

"Ten more minuets, then we'll be home", she whispered to the boy she was carrying.

Ginny let go of her hand, and started running towards the house. "Get everyone in the kitchen, I'm going to need all of their help", called Molly after her. The only response she got was a wave of Ginny's hand.

Harry had been trying to take in his surroundings as much as he could with his poor eyesight, the sound of the birds in the trees, the smell of the wild flowers that grew along the lane, and in the pasture beyond. These were the things that assaulted his senses the most, so they were the things he concentrated on. He knew the area as well as Ginny did, as was able to share her senses, so it didn't bother him that he couldn't see much. In the distance, he could hear Ginny calling for her brothers, over and over again.

Allowing himself to look through her eyes, he could see the house getting quickly closer, as she was sprinting towards it, again, this was nothing new to him, he had seen it through her hundreds of times. But now was different, he was actually here, he would see it with his own eyes, hear the laughter of the family with his own ears, smell Molly's wonderful cooking with his own nose.

Eventually they reached the house, and without breaking her stride, Molly walked towards the rear door that led into the Kitchen, well, Harry thought it was the rear door, it was hard to tell. This house was built so haphazardly, with walls and windows and doors seemingly added without care or concern. The basic shape of the house was an 'L', with the kitchen and pantry in the small leg, and the living room in the longer leg. Harry thought it had four levels, though it was hard to be sure, as none of the windows on the outside seemed to be in line with one another. He tried recollecting what he had seen through Ginny about the layout, but quickly became confused.

On this side of the house, the garden was mainly lawn, with a couple of flower beds dotted around, beyond the lawn was the little orchard, with it's mixture of fruit trees. Behind that was a pasture, which led up to the woods that went up and over the hillside. Harry knew that the pond and stream lay just inside these trees. On the far side of the house was the vegetable garden and hen house, as well as Arthur's shed and various other out houses.

Molly climbed the couple of steps to the covered porch that ran along this side of the house, walked past a pile of rusty and dented old cauldrons, untidily stacked, and opened the kitchen door. As soon as she had made sure that all her sons were present, she started barking orders.

"Bill, Charlie, go and get the spare bed down from the loft, and put it in Ron's room, Percy, go to the linen cupboard, get some fresh sheets, a pillow, and a couple of blankets. Fred, George, go and run a bath, make sure it's not to hot, do you hear? Ron, you and Ginny get my big pot out and get some vegetables from the pantry, onions, potato's, leaks, carrots, that sort of thing. I'll be making a vegetable soup. What are you all waiting for? MOVE IT!"

After the boys had all scurried away to carry out their allotted tasks, Molly carried Harry through to the living room, and laid him on one of the mismatched sofas. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to get you a drink", with that she made her way back into the kitchen, took a glass tumbler from the side board, and filled it from the tap, casting a quick cooling charm on it. She placed it on the scrubbed oak table that was in the middle of the kitchen, and started searching the drawers for a straw. After a quick search she gave up, taking out her wand, she quickly conjured one, she then took the drink back into the living room.

"Here, let me sit you up a bit, I've got you a drink, just take little sips to begin with, I've got you a straw which should help." Molly then lifted Harry and stuffed a couple of cushions behind his back. Harry took the straw whilst Molly held the glass, he sipped it greedily, almost making himself choke in the process.

"Slow down a bit, there's plenty more from where this came from." Nodding his head, Harry did what he was told. Whilst he was drinking, Molly looked him over to try and ascertain what, if any, injuries he might have. She was relieved not to be able to find any, although his frighteningly thin body worried her immensely.

After the sixth glass of water, Harry stopped drinking, "thank you Mrs Weasley", was all he was able to say, as he was still very weak from lack of food.

"Don't you mention it you dear boy, now let me see what those boys of mine are up to, I'll not be a minuet."

Percy was waiting for her in the kitchen, "I've done as you asked mum, anything else you want me to do?"

"Yes please Percy, go and sit with Harry for a bit, while I prepare the soup."

"Who is he mum, and how did Ginny apperate you?"

"Now is not the time for questions Percy, Harry's very weak, he needs food quickly, please, go and make sure he's ok"

As Percy was leaving the room, Ginny and Ron entered from the pantry. "Is this ok mummy?" asked Ginny, holding a basket filled with various vegetables.

"Yes, perfect, put the basket on the table, while I fill the pot."

Just then footsteps could be heard on the stairs as Bill and Charlie descended them. "Done it mum", called Bill, "anything else you need us to do?"

"Not at the moment, stay in the kitchen though, I don't want to many people in the living room. Ginny, you can go through if you want, you seem to get on with Harry."

Within a few minuets, Molly had lit the hob, and had a massive pot, filled to the brim with sliced vegetables, boiling on it. Percy came back into the kitchen and sat on one of the chairs around the table. "Ginny's with him now, he seems to have fallen asleep." He said after an enquiring look from his mother. With a nod, she turned back to the steaming pot.

The twins then arrived in the now crowded kitchen, looking around to see if any of their brothers knew what was going on. Receiving only shrugs from their questioning looks, they too sat at the table.

With a wave of her wand, Molly turned the flame down so the pot was just simmering. Turning to her sons, she said "right you lot, I'm going to bath Harry, I don't want to find a mess get I get back downstairs, do you hear?" Looking pointedly at the twins as she said the last bit.

Going through to the living room, she found Ginny kneeling on the floor beside the sofa that Harry was on. Ginny turned to look at her mum as she approached. "He's asleep mummy" turning to look back at him, she carried on speaking, "they used to beat him, they never fed him, why were they so horrible mummy?"

Molly wiped a tear way before answering, "I don't know darling, some people are like that, but don't worry, we'll make sure he's going to be ok"

Ginny moved out of her mothers way as she bent down to pick Harry up, "I'm going to give him a bath now dear, can you do me a favour, and ask your brothers to go through the spare clothing boxes up in the loft, and see if they can find anything that might fit Harry?

"Yes Mummy", Ginny replied before skipping out of the room. Wrapping the sleeping boy in the dirty rags that he was still laying on, Molly carried him back through to the kitchen and up the two flights of stairs to the family bathroom. She could faintly hear banging from above her as her sons went through the boxes. The banging though may have come from their resident ghoul, who had made his home in their loft, and hated to be disturbed. After checking to make sure the water was the right temperature, she gently stripped harry out of his filthy pants, she threw them on the floor next to the rags, with a wave of her wand, she banished the lot.

Lowering the still sleeping Harry into the warm water, she gently started washing him with a soft sponge whilst supporting his head, starting with his arms and legs, she made her way up his body to his chest, trying to ignore the sure signs of malnourishment that were his bones showing under his skin. As she reached his neck, she saw his eyes flicker open.

"Don't you fret now, your safe and sound, after your bath I'll give you a nice bowl of vegetable soup, ok?"

Harry smiled up at her, his gratitude showing clearly on his face.

Grabbing the shampoo from the shelf above the bath, she started on his long unkempt hair, as she washed it, she brushed it back from his face, that's when she saw it, the lightening bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Molly froze in place, it couldn't be a coincidence, it was in the exact same place that the mark had appeared on her daughters face almost five years previously. To this day she remembered it well, she had been so frightened at the time. Nervously, she asked "Harry, do you know where this scar came from?"

Speaking for only the second time since his rescue, Harry nervously replied, "No Mrs Weasley, I'm sorry, but I don't, why, is anything wrong?"

"I'm sure it's nothing Harry", she answered, not wishing to alarm him.

Letting him sit up by himself, she went to the door and called up the stairs, "have you lot been able to find anything?" It was Charlie who came running down the stairs, carrying an old pair of Ron's shorts and a Bright yellow tee shirt that used to belong to Fred. "Sorry mum, this is all we could find, I think all of our underwear was thrown out when it got to small for us."

"Never mind, I'm sure this will do, it's far better that what he was wearing."

Turning back into the bathroom, she passed Harry a freshly laundered towel and put the clothes on the three legged stool that was in the corner of the room.

"Do you think you can get yourself dried and dressed? I've got to go and check on the soup"

Receiving a nod from him, she turned and made her way back down the stairs.

Harry quickly dried himself, and after donning the shorts and tee shirt, he pulled the plug out of the bath, and made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he found seven pairs of friendly eyes looking at him; shyly smiling back, he made his way to the chair that was between Ginny and Ron. Before sitting down he turned to Molly, who had her back to him whilst she worked at the counter. "Thank you for rescuing me Mrs Weasley, I'll never forget what you did for me"

"It's Ginny you should thank", she replied over her shoulder, "she was the one who knew you were in trouble." How she knew though, was something that will need to be discussed by them all later, she thought to herself

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of the floo flaring came from the living room. "Hello family, I'm home, something smells nice." Came Arthur's voice as he entered the kitchen. Looking around the table, he stopped when he saw Harry. "Well, who do we have here then?"

Harry rose from his seat before replying. "Good morning sir, my name's Harry Potter. Your daughter and wife rescued me this morning."

Six identical gasps came from the boys sat around the table, then they all started talking at once, "Harry Potter! in our house", "The Boy Who Lived!", "Cool!"

"That's enough boys" cried Molly, "Don't believe everything you've heard or read about him"

Turning to his wife, Arthur mouthed 'rescued?'

"Later Arthur, sit now and eat your soup, you won't have long until you have to return to work", With that Molly served ten bowels of steaming vegetable soup to her hungry hoard and Harry. Surprisingly to Harry the soup tasted better than he could ever remember tasting it through Ginny. Before he had taken three spoons full though, Molly reached across and put her hand on his. "Slow down a bit Harry, you'll make yourself ill eating so quickly on an empty tummy".

Nodding at her, Harry ate his soup slowly, savoring every spoonful. After his third helping, he felt as though his stomach had never been so full, noticing that everyone else had finished, he rose from the table and started collecting the used bowls and cutlery.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Asked Arthur with a smile.

"The washing up Sir" he replied, whilst still clearing up.

"Not in this house your not, nobody under eleven is allowed to work in this kitchen, under any circumstance." Said Molly, receiving smiles from Ginny, Ron and the twins, and scowls from Percy, Charlie and Bill.

Ginny laughed at her three eldest brothers, "looks like you three are doing the washing up"

Molly led Arthur into the living room, "I'll explain when we've more time, you had better get back to work before your late"

Kissing him goodbye, she went back into the kitchen, "Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, why don't you take Harry outside and show him around?"

Taping each of them on the head with her wand, she turned to Harry, "Sunscreen charm, stops you from getting burnt" she said needlessly, as Harry had seen her do it to her children many times before through Ginny.

"Mind you go no further than the orchard, I want to be able to see you at all times"

Turning to her three eldest sons, who had almost finished the tidying up from lunch, she said "I want you to be careful around Harry while he gets his strength back, we will be having a family meeting this evening after dinner, so no questions until then, understood?" receiving three yes's in reply, she went to the top of the house, and into Ron's room to make Harry's bed.

Harry and the four youngest Weasley's made their way onto the grassy area between the house and the orchard, sitting down on the dry grass. Harry lent back on his elbows, and let the sun warm his face. After a few minutes of easy silence, the twins started questioning Harry and Ginny.

"Hiya Harry", said Fred, "let us introduce ourselves properly, my names George, my handsome brother next to me is Fred, we're eight."

"No your not", said Harry.

"We are eight!" cried George, "we were born on the first of April nineteen seventy eight"

"No, I meant your not George", replied Harry, looking at Fred, "your Fred. Ginny knows how to tell you apart, so I can too"

Fred and George looked at each other, and burst out laughing, "ok Harry, you got us with that one, how can you really tell us apart, mum can't even do that."

"I see everything she sees, I have done for as long as I can remember, can't all wizards do that?"

It was Fred that answered him, "you can do what? you can see through Ginny's eyes? wow, that's cool."

"No, I've never heard of anyone being able to do that, mum and dad certainly can't, and Percy, Charlie and Bill haven't said anyone at Hogwarts can do it either". Continued George.

"That's nothing, I can do the same with Harry, that's how I knew he was in trouble, and we can speak to each other in our heads", said Ginny, keen to let her brothers know that she knew something they didn't.

Ron, who had kept quiet until now, looked up at this, seeing it as a chance to wind up his little sister, "so are you saying your dream has come true?" he said with a smirk on his face.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, knowing he was trying to embarrass her, "What are you talking about Ron?"

"Well, you've always said that Harry Potter must be lonely without his parents, and that you'll marry him someday, and then you'll make sure he's never lonely again"

Ginny looked like she was about to burst into tears, until Harry reached out and put his hand on hers.

_"Don't let him bother you Ginny, watch this, I'll get him back for you". _He spoke into her mind.

"Ron" said Harry, "I can also see all of Ginny's memories, do you remember the time Fred and George filled your bed with spiders, I thought it was so funny, I might do the same thing".

Ginny, Fred and George all burst out laughing at the expression on Ron's face, as he recalled the mass of spiders crawling over his sheets.

"So the people you were living with were really horrible, that's why Ginny took mum to rescue you". Said Ron, changing the subject as quickly as he could.

It was Ginny who answered him, "they are worse than horrible, they didn't feed him, and they made him sleep in a cupboard..." She stopped talking and started crying, looking deep into Harry's emerald eyes through her tears.

"What is it Ginny?" Asked George.

"They never bought him presents, ever, not for his birthday, or Christmas."

"But he's Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the one who defeated He-who-must-not-be-named, how could they let that happen to him?" Cried Fred, jumping to his feet in anger.

While the three red heads and one raven haired boy talked, Molly had returned to the kitchen, and stood by the window, writing several letters with her old cuckoo feather quill, whilst watching them. To say she was worried would be a huge understatement, firstly, what exactly was the connection between the abused young boy, and her daughter? Secondly, how could she prevent him from being taken back to his relatives. These were her two greatest worries, not that she didn't have many others; the twins, lack of money, the twins, how well her three eldest were doing at Hogwarts, the twins, how Arthur was getting on in his Job.

Seeing one of the twins jump to his feet, she couldn't tell from this far away which one, she decided she had better go and see what was wrong. As she got closer, she could hear the twin on his feet ranting at the others.

"You wait until I can use a wand, I'll play so many tricks on those dirty muggels, they'll wish they had never been born."

"George!, that's enough, can't you see how much your upsetting Harry?"

Harry just sat their with his head in his hands, he didn't want to ever have to think of his relatives again, even if he couldn't stay here, with the Weasleys, he wouldn't go back, he would run away if he had to.

George looked up at his mum from his position on the grass between Ginny and Ron. "I'm George, he's Fred, and he's right, people like that shouldn't be allowed to get away with it."

"Oh don't worry, they won't be getting away with it, your father and I will see to that. Now then Harry, I know you've just had soup, would you like anything else?"

Harry looked up at her with a grateful smile, "I'm ok thank you Mrs. Weasley, I don't think I've ever felt so full. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay out here for a bit, I really like it here, it's so...peaceful."

Molly looked down at him with a sad smile, "you stay out here as long as you like Harry, you four, indoors now, let Harry have a bit of peace and quiet."

"If you don't mind, can Ginny stay with me please?"

Molly was about to object, when she saw the hopeful look in his eyes, she suspected that he hadn't had given anyone that look for a long time. "Of course she can, you haven't had many children your own age to talk to, have you?"

"But I'm his age as well!", objected Ron. "Can I stay to please mum?"

"No Ron, I need you to help me tidy your room, Harry's going to be sharing with you for a while." Ron reluctantly rose from the grass to follow his mother and the twins indoors, leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the garden.

"Are you ok Harry?, we can go inside as well if you want"

"No, I'm ok thanks, I meant what I said to your mum, it's nice out here." After a long pause, Harry spoke again. "At my aunt and uncles house, I was never allowed into the garden unless I had jobs to do. Like cutting the grass or pulling up weeds."

"Harry, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything"

"How can we do what ever it is we can do? I mean, you heard what my brothers said, they don't know of anyone else who can speak in other peoples heads, or share memories, or the sen, sinc,...oh what's the word?"

"I think you mean senses, like eye sight, hearing, smell, stuff like that."

"Yes, that's what I meant Harry, senses, how come we can do this stuff"

"I don't know Ginny, I've been able to share stuff like that with you for a long time, I mean, that's how I learnt to write and add up, because your mum taught you. I know this place as well as you do, every meal you ate, I've tasted, by the way, I can't wait to try your mums treacle tart."

Harry's face suddenly went red, and he cast his gaze to the ground.

"What's up Harry?"

"I'm so sorry Ginny, I didn't mean to, but every time you had a bath, or went to the toilet, I saw that to"

Ginny gave Harry a funny look, then threw her head back and laughed, Harry looked back up at her, frowning.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll got to see you earlier, when mum bathed you, and I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you as well.

Harry laughed along with her, it felt so good to him to be able to laugh like this, to be able to act like the six year old that he was.

"Your feeling tired", said Ginny out loud, after they had been laying in the sun for a while, practicing talking in their heads.

"And you need to go for a poo" retorted Harry.

Giggling, they made their way inside, Molly was preparing dinner in the kitchen when they walked in. "Having a good time dears?"

"Yes thanks mum, what are we having for dinner?"

"Shepherds pie and vegetables, I'm not sure what to do for pudding though. Any Ideas?"

"Treacle tart please", replied Ginny immediately, sharing a smile with Harry. "Harry's feeling tired mum, can he lie down for a while?"

"Of course he can, you've had quite an eventful day", Molly said, turning to Harry,"so I'm not surprised you feel tired. Ginny, show him to Ron's room, if Ron's up there, tell him to leave Harry alone, and let him sleep.

"Ok mum, this way Harry, I'll show you"

_"I Know, remember, I know everything you do, now go to the toilet, before you have an accident."_

Leading him up to the top floor anyway, Ginny opened the door of her youngest brothers room, "that's your bed, and that one's Ron's, sleep well, I'll see you later"

Harry lay down on the camp bed, to most people, the thin mattress would have felt quite hard, but to him it was the most comfortable thing in the world, considering that all he had to sleep on at his relations house was the cold hard concrete floor of the cupboard. Closing his eyes, he followed Ginny's progress down the two flights of stairs to the family bathroom.

_"Harry, are you there?"_

_"Yes Ginny, I'm here, are you ok?"_

_"Sorry about what Ron said earlier, you know, about me wanting to keep you from getting lonely, and wanting to marry you"_

_"I know that's what you want Ginny, you can't lie to me when I know everything you do, the same way I can never lie to you, it's nice having someone that cares about me for a change. Your the first friend I've ever had, thank you for looking after me."_

_"I know I can't lie to you, it's nice to have someone to share all my secrets with, what I'm sorry about is that Ron said it in front of the twins, their going to take the micky out of you now."_

_"I don't mind, from your memories, I can see that they'll never be nasty about it, it'll just be done in fun."_

_"Ok Harry, as long as you don't mind. Now think about something else if you can, I'm in the toilet, and I really need to go poo."_

Harry smiled to himself and looked around the room he was in, even though everything was fuzzy because of his poor eyesight, he could still see the bright orange walls, Chuddly Cannons colours he reminded himself from one of the many Quiditch arguments Ron and Ginny had about their favorite teams, hers being the Holyhead Harpies. He tried really hard not to share senses with Ginny, respecting her privacy, but he had got so used to it during the many hours he had spent alone in the cupboard, it was second nature to him now. He suspected it would have been like somebody asking him not to breathe, it would take a real conscious effort because it was something he did without thinking.

Sometime it did get confusing for him, like when she was really concentrating on something, like learning to tie her shoelaces, or brushing her long hair. Then he found that unless he concentrated on what he was doing, he would make the same movements that she was.

Right now he knew that she had finished going to the toilet, and was busy wiping herself, some things he just couldn't shut out.

_"Harry, I've finished, you can look again. I'm going to go downstairs now and play with my toy cauldron, want to watch?"_

_"Sure, I might fall asleep though, I feel really tired."_

_"That's ok, we can play when you've woken up, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" _

With that, Harry closed his eyes as he watched Ginny get the cauldron out and start playing with it. He knew he had fallen asleep, but he was still able to watch Ginny play through her eyes, and hear everything going on around her. This wasn't unusual for him to be able to do this, normally though, she would sleep the same time he did.

He knew he was about to be woken, when Molly got up from her chair and walked past Ginny, asking her to put her toys away, and wash her hands for dinner. He felt Molly gently shaking him awake "Harry, dinners almost ready, go and wash your hands, their's a good boy."

He smiled up at her, and did as he was told; coming down the stairs, he heard the sound of the floo coming from the fireplace in the living room.

"Arthur, good your home early for a change, dinners almost ready, we'll be having a family meeting afterwards." Said Molly to her husband as he walked towards her to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Very well my love, I'm sure we all have questions we would like answers to."

After everyone was seated, with Harry in between Ginny and Ron again, Molly placed platters of Shepherds pie and vegetables onto the table. Harry waited patiently for everyone else to help themselves. "Harry my boy, tuck in, or there'll be none left for you," Arthur said from his place at the head of the table.

Harry nodded at him and grabbed the serving spoon from Ron, who had been heaping food onto his plate. After everyone had eaten their fill, and Molly had piled the dirty dishes into the sink, the dessert was brought to the table, two huge treacle tarts, baked by Molly while Harry had been asleep. Even though he had eaten more today than he normally did in a week with his relatives, Harry's mouth was still watering. He was almost crying as well, the thought of someone actually doing something just for him was almost to much for him to comprehend. Ginny sensed Harry's overwhelming feeling of gratitude through their link, and without saying anything, out loud or through the link, simply reached out and held his hand under the table.

"As our guest, I think Harry should serve himself first, and don't be afraid to give yourself a large portion." Said Arthur to everyone gathered around the table. Harry gave Arthur such a big smile, the older man thought the boy might be actually causing himself some great discomfort.

Harry savoured every spoon full, it tasted so good. He was by far the last one to finish, the others having quickly scoffed theirs down. Remembering what had happened at lunch time, he stopped himself from immediately tidying up. Instead Molly quickly added the dessert dishes to the growing pile in the sink.

Looking around the table, he saw everyone looking expectantly at Arthur, "Molly, we'll leave the dishes for now, come and sit down."

Arthur looked at each person in turn around the table, his gaze finally resting on Harry.

**A/N I found this very difficult to write, trying to remember how little children spoke and acted around each other, I'm still not happy with it, but not sure how to put it right, any suggestions would be gratefully received.**


	5. Chapter 5

The silence in the kitchen was only broken by the monotonous ticking of the old Weasley clock. Everyone looked at Arthur as they waited for him to speak. After a long pause as he studied everyone faces, he eventually turned to his wife.

"Would you mind explaining what Harry meant when he said that you rescued him my love?"

Before answering, Molly rose from the table and after filling the battered copper kettle with her wand, started making tea for herself and her husband.

Placing the two chipped mugs on the table, she turned and looked Arthur in the eye.

"Ginny was the one who alerted me to Harry's plight, I was in here when she ran in crying that Harry was dying, at the time, I thought that one of her brothers had played some kind of trick on her, but after looking at them I could see that they were as confused as I was."

Turning to look at Bill and Charlie she said to them sternly, "and don't think I've forgotten the fact that you two were not looking after her as you were supposed to be doing."

After taking a sip of her tea she continued, "when I explained to Ginny that I didn't even know where Harry was, she took me to him. Magically."

The pointed look he received from his wife was not missed by Arthur, further question would have to be asked once his wife finished her explanation.

"When we reappeared, we were in a muggle home, not one I've ever seen before might I add. Ginny said that Harry was locked in a cupboard, I opened the door and..." Molly had to stop to compose herself, retrieving a handkerchief from her sleeve, she dabbed her eyes with it and blew her nose.

"Oh Arthur, it was horrible, this poor little boy was filthy, half starved and scared witless. The cupboard only had a little grill on the door, with no light inside, Merlin knows how long the poor little love had been in there. As for the smell, well I shan't go into to much detail, but it was horrible. How anybody could treat another human being like that is beyond me, especially when he's just a child."

The mood around the old oak kitchen table had become more and more somber as Molly had related what she had found, even the boisterous twins wiped the occasional tear away. Ginny, who had known nothing but love her whole life, grabbed Harry's hand under the table. Bill Charlie Ron and Percy were giving Harry mixed looks of anger and pity. Anger because of the way he had suffered needlessly, and pity because of the sorrow that they felt for him.

"After Ginny coaxed Harry out of the cupboard, I had a bit of a run in with Dumbledore..." Continued Molly before being interrupted by Ginny.

"He made you say a naughty word mummy, you never say naughty words."

"I aimed what I said at those muggles Harry was staying with, not at Dumbledore. Though I quite easily have said a lot more naughty words when I found out that he was the one who kept Harry there." Molly said to her family as a whole.

"I then had to get away from the wards in order to disapparate back here. Whilst walking away from the house, we bumped into Harry's aunt, lets just say she won't be forgetting me for quite a long while."

Arthur lovingly patted his wife's hand when she had finished, "I appreciate that you've been through a lot today children, but would you mind answering a couple of questions for me?" He said, looking at Harry and Ginny.

"No Sir."

"No Daddy."

Smiling reassuringly at them, Arthur addressed Harry first. "First of all Harry, I would like to formally welcome you to the Weasley home, be assured, you are welcome to stay here as long as you want to, Ok?"

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir, Ma'am"

"Now now, none of that, whilst you are here, you can call us Molly and Arthur, understand?"

Harry smiled shyly back at Arthur, his aunt and uncle would never have let him address them so informally.

"Now Ginny darling, can you please explain to me how you knew Harry was in trouble, and how you took mummy to him?"

"Sure daddy, Harry showed me what it was like for him with those bastards"

"Ginny! you shouldn't used that word." Exclaimed Molly, while casting a stern glance at the snickering twins.

"You said it first mummy!" Shot back an indignant Ginny.

"It was very naughty of mummy to say that word. Please don't say it again sweetheart," said Arthur whilst trying to hide a smirk.

"What did you mean when you said that 'Harry showed you'?" Continued Arthur

"What I said daddy, he used magic to show me his memories."

Bill, Charlie and Percy, not having been involved in the conversation in the garden, gave Ginny incredulous looks .

"Ginny, that just isn't possible", said Arthur.

"He did daddy, I promise. He showed me his memories, I went and told mummy, then Harry pulled us to him"

Harry spoke up for the first time, knowing that it was his fault that Ginny's parents didn't believe her. "It's true what Ginny's telling you, that's really what happened. I've been able to share everything that she knows for as long as I can remember."

Looking around the table, Harry could see that he had everyone's attention. "I don't know how I did it, I was scared, I sort of reached out and talked to her and she heard me. It's hard to explain, but I could feel mine and Ginny's magic, and was able to pull her to me using our...link, connection, bond, whatever you want to call it."

"Wow, that's pretty cool Harry, you mean you've been able to see what Ginny see's and hear's and taste's and everything?" Asked Charlie.

Harry turned to the second oldest Weasley boy and nodded.

"Prove it, what's Ginny's earliest memory then?" said Percy.

Harry looked at Molly and blushed, Ginny turned to him and started giggling. "Mummy and daddy didn't, did they?"

Molly shared a confused look with her husband before turning to Harry, "don't be scared, nobody here is going to tell you off, and it would be a good way to prove to us that you two have this ability."

Harry stared down at the table, his voice barely audible as he spoke. "The reason you and Mr. Weasley moved Ginny out of your room and into her own was because you thought she was asleep one night when you two were..."

"Ok Harry, no need to say anymore, I remember why we moved her." Said a very red faced Molly. She turned to look at her husband, who was staring at Harry with a look of utter disbelief.

"Just a couple more questions if you don't mind Harry?" Arthur Weasely was still struggling to comprehend what the young boy before him was telling him.

Harry look up at Arthur and nodded.

Arthur looked around the table to try and get ideas of what to ask him. Eventually his gaze settled on Bill.

"What is Ginny's nickname for Bill?"

Harry looked up at the eldest son, while he searched through Ginny's memories. "Billy goat gruff, because of a muggle fairytale you once read her."

Arthur's gaze then fell on his third son, Percy. "Percy was visiting a member of our family this morning, who was it and how are we related to them?"

Harry turned to look at the bespectacled boy opposite him. " He was visiting Muriel Prewett, she's Mrs. Weasley's aunt."

"Remarkable, absolutely remarkable. Well done Harry, from what I've heard, I've absolutely no reason to doubt that you and my daughter have an extraordinary connection. Tell me, does it work the other way? Can you share everything with Ginny?"

"Yes daddy, I know everything Harry does." Ginny said, looking at her father. "We share everything now, I couldn't before this morning, but I can now."

"I wonder why it only worked one way until this morning?" Pondered Arthur.

"It felt like I had to smash down a barrier to get to talk to Ginny in her head, but once I did that, we've been able to share everything."

"A barrier?" Said Molly

"I've been able to share everything through her for as long as I can remember, but I never tried to talk like that to her before. It was like something in my head was stopping her from doing the same with me. But when I really needed her this morning, I sort of pushed my magic through to her. It was like tearing my way through a...a thick plastic sheet."

"What's plastic?" Asked Ron with a puzzled look on his face, looking at Harry. But it was Ginny who answered him.

"It's something that muggles use to wrap stuff with, and cover furniture with when painting the ceiling silly. Didn't you know that?"

Ron stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I take it Ginny, you were using Harry's memories to answer the question?" Asked Arthur.

Ginny simply giggled in response.

Arthur's face turned serious as he addressed his family. "Ginny and Harry share a unique and special gift, I forbid anyone here telling anyone about it. I don't even want to hear you discussing it amongst yourselves outside of these four walls, understood?" After receiving nods from everyone gathered at the table he carried on speaking. "I don't know what caused them to be able to be able to share things as they do, but I don't think it's a bad thing. After all, it allowed Ginny to let us know that Harry needed help."

Turning to Molly, Arthur took her hands in his. "Well done sweetheart for doing what was right, I take it you think that Dumbledore will attempt to take young Harry there back to that muggle family?"

Molly nodded before speaking. "Yes I do, for some reason he seemed determined that Harry shouldn't leave. I suspect he will try to return him, but I hope the letters I wrote this afternoon will prevent him from doing so."

"What letters? Who did you write to?" Enquired Arthur.

"I wrote to The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler, and The Wizarding Wireless Network, explaining how The Boy Who Lived was being abused, starved and beaten. I didn't mention he was now with our family of course, but I did say that it was being done with the full knowledge of Dumbledore. I also gave the address at which Harry was living at. So hopefully those barbaric muggles will get what's coming to them. I dare say that we aren't the only family who thinks that they will deserve to be punished."

"Way to go mum!" Shouted the twins in unison, earning them a faint hint of a smile from Molly.

A beaming Arthur held up his hands at George and Fred in order to try a prevent any more outbursts.

"Well done sweetheart, that was good thinking. I doubt very much if Dumbledore could return Harry now, even if he wanted to. It's getting rather late, but there is one more question I must ask Harry before you kids need to go to bed."

Harry, who had been smiling at Ginny whilst Molly and Arthur had been talking, turned his attention to her father when he mentioned his name.

"Sir?"

"Arthur." Said Arthur, "stop all this sir nonsense. Harry, do you wish to stay with us, here at the Burrow?"

Harry, his bright green eyes wide with sock and excitement, could only nod at Arthur. He didn't trust himself to speak because of the huge lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat.

Molly got up from the table, picking up the two empty mugs as she did so. "Harry, Ginny and Ron, bed time please, the rest of you can stay up a little while longer."

Before mounting the stairs, Harry turned and looked at Molly, who was stood at the sink, rinsing out the mugs. "Molly."

"Yes dear, is there something you need?" She asked, turning slightly so she could see him.

"I don't have a toothbrush or any pajamas."

"Of course you don't, sorry I forgot. I'll tell you what, we'll see if we can find you some of Ron's old pajamas, and I'll transfigure you a toothbrush from a pencil or something, Ok?"

With Molly following him, Harry headed up the bare wooden staircase. Stopping at the door to the bathroom, he turned to Molly.

"Ginny's in there, she won't be long, she's just cleaning her teeth."

Molly smiled at him. "With you around, I won't have to worry about her so much, if I need to know where she is, all I'll have to do is ask you."

The bathroom door opened and Ginny walked out, kissed her mother on the cheek, and then turned to Harry. She quickly gave him a peck on the cheek as well, then dashed into her bedroom, which was opposite the bathroom.

Molly steered Harry into the bathroom, and after retrieving her wand and a pencil from her apron pocket, transfigured the pencil with a tap of her wand. Handing the toothbrush to him she pointed to the toothpaste which was on a shelf above the sink.

"Be quick Harry, I was never much good at transfiguration, I don't know how long it will last."

With a nod, Harry began cleaning his teeth. "While your doing that, I'll go find you some pajamas, I'll leave them on your bed for you. You may have to roll up the legs and sleeves, Ron's a bit taller than you." With that she left the bathroom and made her way up the stairs.

When Harry had finished, he went up to Ron's bedroom, changed out of his shorts and tee shirt, and into the pajamas. Looking down at them, he felt Ginny giggling at him.

_"Hey, they're not that bad, ok they might be a bit big, and I'm not sure about the bright orange colour, but they're the first ones I've ever owned."_

_"If I had know you need some, you could have borrowed my old pink ones, they're a bit faded, but they would've fit you better." _Ginny replied with a hint of laughter in her tone.

Harry tried the equivalent of a mental raspberry, smiling as she returned it twice as loud and twice as long.

Ron was sat up in his bed, looking at him, waiting for him to finish getting changed. "Harry, do you really have my sister in your head all the time?"

Harry sat down on his bed, facing Ron. "Yeah, it's really cool you know. I feel like I know all of you so well because I've seen so much of you through her." A sudden thought occurred to him, "your not...you know, upset by it are you?"

"No mate, can't say I envy you though, having a girl in your head all the time must be really horrible, especially when it's my annoying little sister."

Harry grimaced, "I think you forgot she can hear everything through me as well, she said she's going to get you back for that, something about spiders in your shoes."

Ron shuddered, threw himself down on his bed, and pulled the covers over his head.

"Good night Ron." All he got in reply was a grunt. Walking over to the window, Harry sat on the window seat and looked out at the moonlit garden out side. Even with his poor eyesight, he could make out the trees that swept over the valley side.

_"Your eyes are really bad, don't you have glasses?"_

_"No, my aunt wouldn't get any for me, I've sort of got used to seeing everything blurry."_

_"We'll tell mum in the morning, she'll get you some."_

_"Ginny?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Do you think we can ...move to each other like we did earlier?"_

_"Don't know, want to try it?"_

_"Ok, do you want to come here, or shall I try going to you this time?"_

_"You try coming here."_

_"Ok."_

Harry let his magic flow through the connection with Ginny. Looking through her eyes, he could make out an empty space beside her bed in the darkened room.

_"I think you've got to pull me to you, that's what I did with you."_

_"Ok, here goes"_

Harry felt the pull of Ginny's magic and let himself relax. Without a sound he appeared beside her, in the space he had seen.

"Wow, this is brilliant Ginny", said Harry out loud.

_"Keep quiet, mum and dad are just below us."_

_"Sorry."_

_"How are you going to get back to your room? We've only ever tried pulling each other to where the other is."_

_"Walk back up the stairs I guess."_

_"You can't mum will hear you."_

_"Well I can't stay here all night. Lets try pushing me back into Ron's room."_

_"What do you mean, push you?"_

_"Think about Ron's room and try...pushing me with your magic."_

Ginny and Harry screwed up their faces in concentration, but nothing happened.

_"So we can only pull each other to where the other is. Must be something about this link we've got."_

_"Harry, go to the bathroom, flush the toilet, and if mum asks, you tell her you needed to go."_

_"Ok, see you in the morning."_

With that, Harry crept over to her door, opened it a crack, then rushed through the open bathroom door opposite. After flushing the toilet, me made his way back out onto the landing and bumped straight into Molly.

"Is everything Ok Harry?"

"Yes, just needed the loo"

"Ok dear, back up to bed with you."

Harry made his way back up the stairs and into Ron's room. Getting into the camp bed, he was quickly asleep.

Harry woke up at his normal time, five thirty, looking around he didn't immediately remember where he was. The sound of snoring coming from the opposite corner of the room caught his attention. 'Ron', he thought to himself, the events of yesterday came flooding back.

Making sure he didn't make to much noise, he crept down the four flights of stairs and into the kitchen. Not knowing what to do, he started preparing breakfast. As he was unsure where everything was kept, he started by looking through all the cupboards. Quickly finding the pans and utensils he needed. He placed a frying pan on the Weasley's large range cooker. He was used to cooking on gas in his aunts kitchen, so it took him a while to figure out that he needed to put the chopped wood that was stacked next to it into to the fire box.

After having lit the wood, Harry then searched around for the ingredients. Bacon, sausages, beans and mushrooms were soon prepared and ready for cooking, the only thing missing were eggs. Ten minutes went by before he remembered the henhouse outside by Arthur's shed. Not having any shoes, Harry stepped out into the cool morning air barefoot. The sun was creeping over the horizon in the east, giving him plenty of light to see by. Approaching the hen house he stopped to look around as much as his limited eyesight would allow. Breathing in the fresh country air, he let his senses slip into Ginny's. She was still fast asleep.

Harry could never remember feeling happier; he was with a family who treated him well. He had eaten more yesterday than he usually did in a week He had had a bath, something unheard of before. The most important and biggest change though was that he now had a friend. No, friend was the wrong word; Harry didn't know what Ginny and he were to each other. They were already more than just friends, it was as if they had known each other their whole lives. Not just the previous twenty four hours that was the reality.

Finding a couple of dozen eggs, he made his way back into the kitchen. Normally he was used to making breakfast for three, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. But now he had to try and make enough for nine. He was still unused to counting himself when it came to meals.

The time was approaching seven when Molly Weasley awoke. She was relived it was a Friday, tomorrow Arthur would be off and she could have a lie in. But for now she had to go and make breakfast as she had done every day since they were married. Descending the stairs from her bedroom located on the first floor, she first knew something wasn't quite right when she smelt bacon cooking.

Walking down the last few stairs Molly stopped when she saw Harry. He had his back to her as he was busy turning the bacon. She noticed that he had to stand on a lump of firewood in order to reach properly. Eventually Harry must of sensed her presence, as he turn and smiled at her.

"Good morning Molly, I wasn't sure what everyone wanted, so I'm doing a bit of everything. The only thing I couldn't find was potato's. I wanted to make hash browns as well." With that Harry returned to the stove as he continued to cook.

Molly was unsure of what to do. She knew that the couldn't tell him off, that would just end in disaster. But there was no way that she would let a six year old cook for her entire family.

Eventually she let her motherly instincts take over, walking up behind him she enveloped him in a gentle hug.

"You dear sweet boy, you don't have to do this you know. This is my job, not yours, thank you ever so much for doing this though. I can't remember the last time I had a break from making breakfast."

To her horror, when she eventually pulled away, she noticed tears running down Harry's cheeks. "I'm not angry or upset Harry, there's no need to cry."

"That's not why he's crying mummy." Came a voice from the bottom of the stairs. Turning around, Molly saw her daughter standing there with a sad expression on her face.

"What in Merlin's name is the matter then? Why is he crying?"

Ginny gave a small shrug of her shoulders before replying. "He's never been hugged before."

Molly couldn't believe her ears, had she heard her daughter right? Had this boys life been so completely without love or affection since the death of his parents?

Swallowing her anger, Molly reached out for Harry again, pulling him into another hug.

"Well we're going to have to do something about that then, aren't we." Beckoning her daughter over to them, she pushed Harry and Ginny together.

"You and Ginny hug each other good morning while I dish up this delicious smelling breakfast. Oh, and Harry, get used to being hugged my boy. As you'll be getting lots of them whilst your under my roof."

When all the various foods were served into separate dishes and placed down the center of the kitchen table with a warming charm placed over them. Molly stood at the bottom of the stairs, took a deep breath, and shouted "BREAKFAST" at the top of her lungs.

At first nothing happened, then the sound of one door opening, then another and another came down the stairs. Eventually the sound of footsteps, lots of them, could be heard quite clearly.

Standing clear of the stairs, Molly gestured to the two children with her to take their seats.

As she sat down herself, the rest of Molly's family burst into the kitchen, pushing and shoving each other in order to get to the table. Eventually everyone was seated, but before anyone had a chance to reach for the food, Molly stood.

"I have been cooking breakfast for you bunch of reprobates for as long as I can remember. Not once have any of you even so much as even offered to help, let alone done it for me. The first time Harry is here for this meal, not only does he light the oven, fetch the eggs and prepare all the food. He cooks the lot as well!"

Glaring round the table she continued. "You will now wait until he has served himself first, and if he decides to eat the lot, then it will be tough luck for the rest of us. Understood?

Guilty expressions could be seen on all the Weasley males faces, including Arthur's. He was the one who spoke up first.

"Come on Harry don't be shy, help yourself, you deserve it after all the work that must have gone into cooking this. As for the rest of you, Bill, Charlie and Percy. You three and me will be doing the breakfast every weekend while you are not at school. Ok? I said Ok?"

Receiving three nods Arthur turned to his wife.

"I am so sorry for taking you for granted. You are quite right my love, we should do more to help you."

By this time Harry had served himself and was waiting for everyone else before he started eating. Molly indicated to the rest of them to start serving themselves, making sure she slipped another couple of rashers of bacon, a sausage, and a fried egg onto Harry's plate.

After the meal was finished, Molly turned to Harry. "Would you mind waiting for me in the living room while I get this lot washed up? I would like to have a few words if that's Ok? Nothing to worry about though Harry."

Molly then turned to the rest of her family. "Ok you lot, I know you're up earlier then normal, so make use of the extra time you've been given today. Bill, Charlie, you two can clean out the hen house, maybe that will help you to remember to look after your sister when I ask you to. Percy, Fred and George. You three get to pick the fruit in the orchard. This time though, I don't want to find Percy hanging by his ankle in the plum tree, understood? Ron and Ginny, you two stay here for a minute please, you can play with Harry after we've had a little chat. Arthur, you need to get ready for work, and please try not to put odd socks on today."

Harry waited in the living room as he had been told to . While he waited for Molly, he had a closer look at the moving portraits that were placed haphazardly on the walls. Most of them were of various members of the Weasley family. Some of them he knew from Ginny's memories were of Molly's family, the Prewett's. One Portrait in particular caught his attention; it was of Molly, who was holding a tiny baby wrapped in a yellow blanket. He had seen it plenty of times before through Ginny, and knew it was her soon after being born.

Molly walked up behind him as he was looking at the portrait. "That was about an hour after Ginny was born." Harry heard a gasp behind him, turning he was surprised to see Molly holding a hand up to her mouth, and a look of confusion on her face.

"However could I have forgotten? Of course, this isn't the first time you two have met."

As Molly said this, Ginny walked into the room. "What do you mean mummy, I've never met Harry before."

Molly sat down on the worn sofa next to the unlit fire. "Yes you have Ginny, please, take a seat next to me you two and I'll tell you the story."

Harry and Ginny sat next to her as requested. Ginny reached out and held Harry's right hand with her left.

"You Harry were in the hospital the same time as when I gave birth to Ginny. Arthur and I knew your parents vaguely through some work we used to do for Dumbledore. He was the man who yesterday tried to stop me from taking you from your relatives. They said that you weren't feeling to good and that is why they brought you in. After the Healers sorted you out, your parents brought you in with them when they came in to see us. I'll never forget it, your mum conjured me an inflatable rubber ring. Arthur was intrigued by it until disappeared."

A small smile formed on Molly's lips as she thought back to the day her daughter had been born. "Harry gave you your very first kiss Ginny. He crawled right up to you and planted a smacker right on your lips. That was also the first time you opened your eyes, bright blue they were."

"I haven't got blue eyes mummy, mine are brown." Ginny argued, her face tinged pink from the mention of her being kissed by Harry.

"All babies have blue eyes at first Ginny, even Harry their with his striking green ones."

"Harry's eyes aren't right."

"What do you mean they're not right darling?"

"When I look through his eyes, everything is sort of fuzzy."

"You may need glasses then Harry, not to worry, we can get you seen to next time we go to Diagon Alley."

"Thank you Molly, I've always been able to see better through Ginny's eyes, her eyesight is much better than mine."

A thought occurred to Molly as the children were talking about being able to see through each other eyes, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I take it you two have been able to see each other in the bath, and when you use the toilet?"

Harry and Ginny turned and looked at each other. Harry was initially worried that he was going to get into trouble, but Ginny's feelings of joyous mischief overrode any concerns of his.

"Yes mummy, but I've only been able to see Harry since yesterday." Turning to Harry she frowned. "How do you manage to go wee wee standing up?"

Harry shrugged. "Good aim", was all he said.

Arthur walked into the room at this point. "I'm of now love, the Prophet has arrived, you may want to have a look at it when you've got a minute." He said with a wink at his wife.

Grabbing a pinch of floo powder from the old earthenware flower pot that was stood on the mantle, he stepped into the fireplace after having lit it with his wand. "The Ministry", and in a flash of blue flame, was gone.

**A/N Sorry for the delay in updating. But I've had a few issues I've had to try and sort out on SIYE, the other site I'm posting this story on. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all that have left reviews. I'm sorry I haven't replied to many, but at the moment I'm trying to concentrate on getting as much of this story done as possible during whatever free time I've got. I have now got a Beta for the story, as I realise my grammar, spelling and punctuation leaves a lot to be desired. Once my Beta has gone through the chapters, I will be re posting them. Though nothing of the story will be changed, it should make it easier to read. Demaon **


	6. Chapter 6

Molly stared at the now empty fireplace for a few moments, her first thought was to go and read the paper. But her daughter and more importantly, Harry had to be dealt with. She wasn't sure what she thought of the connection they shared, as things could get embarrassing as they got older. That bridge however, could be crossed later; for now she had to stop Harry from feeling he had to do the things he used to do at his relations.

"Harry, why did you get up so early?"

Harry looked up at her from his place on the sofa. "Sort of used to getting up at that time. If I didn't do breakfast at my aunts house, they would punish me."

Ginny searched through his memories to see for her self what he meant by being punished.

"Mummy, if Harry didn't make them breakfast on time, his uncle would beat him up."

Molly struggled to control her anger at her daughters words. Searching for a way to make Harry understand that things would be different here for him, she had a moment of inspiration.

"Harry, you can see all of Ginny's memories right?" Receiving a nod in response she carried on. "What I want you to do is look at the times Arthur or I have had to punish her. Can you do that for me?"

Harry searched through the memories that Ginny brought forward for him of all of her punishments. Not that she had been punished that many times during her short life. Harry settled on one particular memory. It was when Ginny had just turned four, almost a year ago. Ron had been teasing her about the Harry Potter stories their father had read to her almost nightly. Completely losing her temper with him she had gone up to his room and torn up his favourite Chudley Cannons poster.

Harry saw how Ron had gone running to their father, crying his eyes out. What shocked Harry though was how Arthur had dealt with them. He had not shouted or got angry. He didn't hit Ginny or Ron. He had simply sat each of them on the sofa and slowly and softly talked them through what had caused the problem between them. After repairing the poster with a casual flick of his wand, he had punished them equally. He had taken them out to the orchard and flicking his wand, had summoned all the fruit from one of the pear trees that grew there. The pears had landed neatly in a basket that was near the base of the tree.

Arthur then told them to sort out the pears into two piles, good fruit and rotten fruit. After a while the two children had turned it into a game, seeing which of them could make the tallest pile.

Withdrawing from Ginny's mind, Harry turned and smiled at Molly.

"Now then Harry my lad, you will never be hurt in this house. If I want you to do something, I will ask you. If you want to help that's fine, but never feel that you need to do something because we'd be angry if you didn't. Ok?"

"Thank you Molly."

"Don't mention it, now I'm going to go and read the paper, you two have got the day to yourselves. Go and play Nicely."

Minerva McGonagall prepared herself a cup of her favourite Earl Grey tea before sitting at the desk in her office. The Daily Prophet had just been delivered to her by one of the House Elves that worked in the castle. It was still rolled up on her desk, laying next to some of the regular correspondence she always received.

Ignoring the paper for a moment, she picked up the first of a dozen or so parchment letters. After half an hour the letters had all been read and sorted into appropriate piles. She stood stiffly and made her way over to one of the lead lined windows that offered spectacular views of the surrounding Northwest Highlands. Her office was situated right at the top of Gryffindor tower, almost three hundred feet from the ground. Looking down at the Loch below, (she couldn't bring herself to call it a lake) she could see the giant squid sunning itself in the shallows.

Returning to her desk McGonagall reached for the paper, breaking the wax seal, she opened it up.

Reading the Headline, her eyes grew wide. Rereading it for a second, then a third time she eventually read the the article that it related to. Standing up abruptly, she marched out of her office with the paper crushed in her clenched fist.

A quarter of an hour later she had reached her destination, the Headmasters office. Because it was the summer holiday, the stone gargoyle didn't guard the circular staircase. McGonagall climbed the stairs without breaking her stride. Not even bothering knock, she march straight into the office.

Dumbledore was sat at his desk when the Deputy Headmistress stormed in. Standing politely he gestured to one of the comfy wing-backed armchairs that faced him on the opposite side of the desk.

"Good morning Minerva, to what do I owe this unexpected but welcome visit?"

Ignoring the offered armchair, she strode right up to the desk and flung the paper at the Headmaster.

"What have you got to say for yourself Dumbledore?" Her Scottish brogue coming through thickly, a sure sign that she was furious.

"I am quite sure I do not know to what you are referring. I take it something in this mornings edition of the Daily Prophet has upset you?"

"I can assure you Headmaster, that I am quite a few levels past upset!"

McGonagall stood up straight. "Am I to understand from your demeanour, that you have not read the paper yet this morning?"

Dumbledore nodded. "My copy is on the small desk next to Fawkes' stand. I have as of yet not had the opportunity to read it, as I was busy with other matters pertaining to the school."

"Then I suggest you read it right now, and if there is an ounce of truth to what is written, you and I shall be having more than a few words."

Dumbledore retrieved McGonagall's copy from the floor where it had landed. With a flick of his wand the creases disappeared. Sitting back down in his chair, he began to read.

**The Boy Who lived, a Muggle Slave.**

**It has been brought to the attention of this newspaper, that the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, who was thought missing the last five years; was in fact put into the care of Muggles. It is not known who placed him there, as the details of that historic night are still sketchy. **

**As you all should recall, on the thirty first of October 1981, He Who Must Not Be Named killed James and Lilly Potter. But when he tried to kill young Harry, the killing curse somehow backfired on him. Killing him instantly. The only fact we know is that Harry was left with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.**

**Despite rigorous investigation by our best reporters, no trace of Harry could be found. Until now that is.**

**We were given shocking information from an anonymous source late yesterday afternoon. After investigating the information given, we have no doubt of the validity of the claims made.**

**Harry Potter was left with his maternal aunt, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans). She, with her husband, Vernon Dursley were given the honour of bringing up the then one year old Harry as if he were their own. It would seem as though they resented Harry for what he was. A wizard. According to the information we were given. Harry was regularly beaten, starved, and was intentionaly deprived of clothing. He was forced to cook for the Muggles from an early age, often receiving harsh punishments if the food wasn't to their liking. **

**They reside at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, with their own son, Dudley. This is a completely muggle neighbourhood, without anyone magical living anywhere near.**

**Is this the way we, the magical community, reward our saviour? This reporter thinks not. Any one of a number of prestigious families would have been honoured to look after Harry, but were denied this honour by forces unknown.**

**Not only was the infant Harry given to muggles, but these muggles systemically abused him. Evidence was found that indicated that he was forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs. Because of the freedom of the press, one of our reporters was able to gain entry to the property and observe the muggles in question.**

**The muggles were found to be loud, obnoxious, self centred individuals. Who held no regard for the welfare of others. Although there were plenty of muggle photographs on display, none of them indicated that The Boy Who Lived had ever resided there. The property has four bedrooms, the Master Bedroom, shared by Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. A Guest Bedroom. Dudley's Bedroom, and Dudley's second Bedroom. This is what led our undercover reporter to last night search the house for evidence of neglect. A cupboard was found under the stairs that had signs of being somebodies living quarters. Although hastily cleaned, the lock on the outside of the door had not been removed. Traces of human excrement and urine were also found to be present in the cupboard.**

**Although we have not had time to gather all the facts yet, we will be endeavouring to do so over the next few days. If we gather enough evidence to prove conclusively that a magical minor, no matter who it was, was abused by these muggles. We will be bringing that evidence before the Wizengamot. If found guilty of abuse of a magical minor, muggle or not, the Dursley's will serve a minimum of life imprisonment in the wizard prison of Azkaban. **

**Rest assured, this paper will be unrelenting in the search of the truth.**

**Reginald Allbright, Chief Reporter.**

Beside the article was a picture of the house, Vernon Dursley could be seen getting out of his car and walking up to the front door.

Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fore finger. Damn that woman! He had wanted to keep Harry away from the magical community. But now there was no way he could return him to his relatives. The blood wards, charged by Harry's own magic, would also fail within a few weeks. Damn! Damn! Damn! All his plans had been based on Harry looking up to him as some sort of hero.

His musings were interrupted by a still outraged McGonagall. "Well! Is it true or isn't it? I told you at the time that they were the worst sort of muggles."

"My dear Minerva, do you really believe everything you read in the paper?" Answered Dumbledore after a moments reflection.

Minerva McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the headmaster, with her nostrils flaring, and her lips almost non existent. She placed her clenched fists on the edge of the desk and leaned across to face the still seated man opposite her.

"Don't take me for a fool Dumbledore, I was there, remember? I sat outside that..." She said, stabbing at the picture with her finger. "That place for a whole day. I saw what they were like, I tried to warn you. If I had known then what I know now, I would have taken Harry home myself. Rather than leave him with those...those people."

Dumbledore stood and turned to face the window he was seated in front of. "There are things that even you are not aware of my friend. Harry had to be kept safe, he had to be kept separate from the magical community. Who knows what kind of person he would have turned out like had he known about his fame. His fate is already sealed, and there is nothing you or I can do about it."

Turning to face McGonagall, Dumbledore continued. "There are forces at work that are out of our control. Harry had to be shaped, trained, to face his destiny."

McGonagall walked around the desk so that she was barely inches away from the elderly Headmaster. "When did he stop being a little boy, and become your tool? He is the son of James Potter and Lily Evans. Remember them? You officiated at their wedding for Merlin's sake! I really hope that whoever has him now makes sure that he is well out of your reach. I used to look up to you Dumbledore, but now I'm not so sure."

"You simply don't understand Minerva. Harry needs to stay safe, the fate of the wizarding world as we know it may depend on whether or not that child is raised away from magical influences. It is for the greater good."

"If the only way for the wizarding world to survive is to allow an innocent child be abused. Then I don't think it's worth saving. For Merlin's sake Albus, will you listen to yourself! You speak about the greater good, how many more people are you willing to sacrifice? How many other children are going to have to suffer?"

McGonagall walked back around the desk towards the unlit fire place. After a few moments of silence, she turned to face Dumbledore.

"I'm going to visit them. The Dursley's. Just to make sure no mistakes have been made. I suggest you accompany me."

Dumbledore nodded. "That may be for the best. When did you wish to go?"

"Right away. Because of this article, steps may have to be taken to protect these muggles. I would imagine that there will be quite a few from our world who will want revenge. I believe I am correct in saying that as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, you have the authority to take these muggles into protective custody if required?"

"As usual you are quite correct, I had not yet thought about the fate of the Dursleys."

"I suggest we floo to the Leaky Cauldron. We can apparate from there." With that McGonagall lit the fire with a flick of her wand, took a pinch of powder from the ornately decorated cup on the mantle. After stepping into the fire, she threw the powder into it.

"Leaky Cauldron!"

With that she disappeared.

After giving his Deputy Headmistress time to clear the floo, Dumbledore followed her.

Wiping the soot from his long white beard, the Headmaster looked around the crowded pub. Several people shouted or waved in from Harry, Albus Dumbledore was probably the most famous wizard in Great Britain. He walked though the throng of people towards the rear exit that led to Diagon Alley, nodding hello to many of the people present. Dumbledore still found it amusing that the majority of people he dealt with outside of school still insisted on calling him Headmaster or Professor.

Closing the rear door of the pub behind him, he looked around the tiny garden. The plain brick wall that was the gate-way into magical London was directly opposite the door. To the left were haphazardly piled crates of empty bottles. To the right was a commonly used paved area for apparation and disapparation.

Seeing McGonagall waiting for him there he walked up to her. "Do you remember where to go? Or would you prefer to side-along with me?"

"I can remember fine thank you. Because of the time of day, may I suggest we apparate directly to the rear garden?"

"That is a splendid idea Minerva."

With a slight twist on the soles of their feet they were gone.

Arriving in the well manicured rear garden of number 4 Privet Dive, McGonagall and Dumbledore headed straight to the back door of the house. Finding it locked, Dumbledore quickly opened it with a wave of his hand. Walking into the pristine kitchen, they sensed that the house was unoccupied.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, McGonagall saw that it was a little after nine. "I would imagine that Mr. Dursley is at work, and that Mrs. Dursley has taken her son to school."

Dumbledore nodded his agreement. "Perhaps we should use this opportunity to take a look around without interruption. I suggest you look upstairs while I remain down here."

McGonagall disappeared through the kitchen door. Dumbledore could hear her foot steps as she ascended the stairs. Walking through to the lounge, he took in the almost sterile condition of the room. Not a cushion was out of place, neither was there a speck of dust to be seen anywhere. All of the photographs were equally spaced on the mantle over the gas fire.

Looking around at the magnolia walls and carpet. Dumbledore wondered how anyone could possibly live like this. Even to his well organised mind, it was to neat, to tidy. Making his way into the hallway, he immediately noticed to door to the cupboard under the stairs. He saw the holes in the frame, the grill in the door itself, and the sturdy lock.

Opening the door fully, he peered inside. Withdrawing his wand, he muttered "luminous." Squatting so he could enter the cupboard properly, he could faintly discern the smell of human excrement. He took note of the stains on the walls and floors.

The sound of footsteps only inches above his head caused him to exit the confined space.

"There is evidence of only three people living in this house." Said McGonagall as she stepped of the last stair. "Have you found anything Albus?"

"Yes, I fear that what was reported in the Prophet this morning might indeed have a grain of truth. It would appear that this cupboard was once used by someone as a bedroom. It would seem as though the Muggles have attempted to clean it. Although not as thoroughly as they might have wished. One of our third years casting a 'scourgify' could have done a better job. There also appears that we have another problem on our hands. I have detected an enormously strong magical signature in there. Much stronger than a six year old boy should produce. I dare say it is even stronger than my own."

McGonagall was about to reply when she was interrupted by the sound of keys unlocking the front door. They both turned to face whoever was about to enter the house.

Petunia Dursley froze in the door way of her home when she saw the two strangely dressed people in her hall.

"Ah Mrs. Dursley, I'm sure you remember me. Let me introduce my Deputy. This is Minerva McGonagall. We were wondering if you would be kind enough to answer a few questions regarding your nephew. Harry Potter."

Not quite composed after finding a wizard and a witch in her home, Petunia said the first thing that occurred to her. "He's dead."

Dumbledore's rather bushy eyebrows raised noticeably at this statement. "Dead? How may I ask did he die?"

Instead of answering immediately, Petunia closed the front door and after removing her shoes, before walking into the lounge.

"It was a few years ago, he got out the front door and was knocked over by a car. We had him cremated. Very sad indeed."

McGonagall glanced at Dumbledore before speaking. "Why did you not inform us?"

"I had no way of being able to. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go shopping."

"Mrs. Dursley, I believe you are not being entirely truthful with us. The reason I believe this to be case is that I happened to see young Harry being removed from this property only yesterday morning."

Petunia sank slowly to the sofa behind her. "You must have been mistaken. There are only the three of us living here."

"I see", replied Dumbledore. Withdrawing his wand, he pointed it directly at Petunia. If it were possible, the horsey faced woman went even paler.

"What are you doing with that thing? I demand you leave my house. We have nothing to do with your sort any more."

Dumbledore ignored her question, instead he muttered a single word. "Legimens!"

McGonagall looked on in shock, this was the last thing she had expected him to do. She knew from experience that his powers of persuasion were legendary, and had expected him to use them on the distasteful woman in order to get to the truth. Using legilimency on a Muggle, in her opinion, was like using a Beaters bat to crack a walnut.

For his part, Dumbledore was beyond horrified by what he saw in Petunia Dursleys memories. Image after image of abuse and neglect by her and her husband swamped his mind until he could take no more.

Releasing the spell, the old wizard staggered backwards. Had there not been a wall behind him, he may well have fallen. For a full minute, his eyes never broke contact with Petunia's. The images, to horrific to comprehend, swirled through his mind.

"Albus, was that absolutely necessary? Albus?...ALBUS?"

He turned to look at McGonagall. Then, without saying a word, walked from the lounge towards the rear door. McGonagall caught up with him in garden, he had his back to her and appeared to be studying the bird feeder that sat in the middle of the unnaturally green lawn.

"Albus, what is it? What did you learn?"

The elderly wizard turned to face her. The expression of absolute loathing that twisted his features caused her to take a step back. "Minerva, do you know where the Weasley's live?"

"Yes, but..."

She was interrupted by Dumbledore waving his wand above his head in an impossibly complicated pattern. "Meet me at their apparation point."

With that, he was gone. Grasping her wand inside the pocket of her cloak she turned and also vanished.

Almost instantaneously she reappeared with a soft pop. Looking around her, her wand still grasped within the confines of her pocket, she saw Dumbledore waiting for her at the entrance of the narrow lane that led to the Weasley's property.

"Albus, did you bring down the wards before we left? You'll leave them completely defenceless against anyone from our world!" Looking around her once more she continued without letting Dumbledore answer. "And why have we come here?"

Dumbledore walked slowly over to her. "We have come here because this is where Harry Potter now resides. As for your first question, yes I did bring down the blood wards which I cast five years ago."

With that he turned sharply and walked down the narrow lane. Hitching up her robes and skirts, McGonagall had to almost run in order to keep up with him.

"Albus wait, slow down a bit!"

Dumbledore stopped and turned to face her.

"Why did you do that? Don't you realise that any Death Eater or witch or wizard will easily be able to find their house? Especially after the Prophet published their address. There will be many from our world who will be seeking revenge against them."

"My conscience regarding the Dursleys is perfectly clear. Tell me Minerva, do you pray?"

The change of course in the conversation caught McGonagall off guard.

"Yes, yes I do. Why..."

"Then I will ask you to pray to which ever Deity you believe in, and give thanks that the Dursleys are not Magical."

"Albus, will you please stop talking in riddles, what did you find in her memories?"

"Did you think that Voldemort was evil?"

"Albus, what are you talking about, of course he was, you know that. But what does that have to have to do with the Dursleys?"

"There are lots of different types of evil in this world Minerva. Voldemort was but one type. The Dursleys are another. Had they been magical, they could have rivalled him. Maybe not in power, but certainly in the number of heinous crimes they would have perpetrated."

McGonagall covered her mouth with her hand. The magnitude of what she was being told almost to much to comprehend.

"Do you mean to tell me that everything in this mornings prophet was true. That Harry was abused by those people?"

Dumbledore didn't reply immediately. Instead he turned to face away from her. After a couple of minutes he turned to face her again.

McGonagall was shocked to see tears streaming down his lined and weathered face and into his beard.

"You were right Minerva, Harry Potter is a boy not a tool. I am so used to being told how wise and knowledgeable I am. I am so used to getting my own way with everything I want. Where did I go wrong?"

Not waiting for an answer, he turned a continued walking towards the Burrow.

Molly had finished preparing the ingredients for the midday meal when she glanced out of the Kitchen window. At first she was unable to make out who was approaching down the lane. But as the couple got closer, she quickly recognised Dumbledore's long white beard and McGonagall's stern features.

Completely forgetting dinner, she reached into her apron pocket for her wand. Hoping the children would stay upstairs where they had been playing all morning, she made her way to the rear door. Wrenching it open, she marched outside and towards the approaching couple.

"That's far enough Albus", she yelled as she walked towards them. Rolling up her sleeves as she went.

Dumbledore stopped McGonagall by placing his hand on her arm. He knew he was entering into an explosive situation, and wanted to do nothing to antagonize the approaching woman.

They waited patiently as Molly approached them. "Minerva, you are welcome here any time you want. Albus, you are not. So just turn around and go back to where ever you came from."

McGonagall's eyebrows rose slightly at this. As far as she knew Molly and Albus had a mutual respect for one another. "Molly, I don't know what has happened, but all we are here for is to check on young Harry. I understand from Albus that you have him here."

"Yes he's here, and here is where he's staying. Is that understood?" Molly said, looking at Dumbledore. Her wand pointed directly at the old man's crocked nose.

"Perfectly", replied Dumbledore. "I am here to do two things Molly. The first thing I must do is unconditionally apologise. I was wrong, about so many things. Since our last meeting I have discovered the truth about the Dursley's. I will give you my word that I will not attempt to return Harry to them. If you so wish, I will give you a wizards oath to that affect. The second thing I am here for is to offer you my services in reinforcing the defences around your property."

McGonagall stepped away from Dumbledores side and walked over to Molly. "We have just left the Dursley's house. We saw where Harry had to sleep, we saw what horrible people they are. Mrs. Dursley even tried to claim that Harry died years ago. Dumbledore performed legilimency on her, whatever he saw must have been truly horrible. It caused him to bring down the blood wards, they are now defenceless."

Molly's wand dropped slightly as McGonagall spoke to her. Looking back at Dumbledore, she brought it back up. "I'll have your wand before you take another step. I'll also have that wizards oath. No tricks now Dumbledore."

Dumbledore reached into his robes. Pulling his wand out by it's tip, he offered it, handle first, to Molly.

Reaching out with her free hand she grabbed it and stuffed it into her apron pocket, her eyes never leaving his. "Now that oath, I want you to swear that you will not try to take Harry away from here."

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, do swear on my life and my magic that I will not attempt to remove Harry James Potter from the Weasley home. So mote it be."

"So mote it be," replied both Molly and McGonagall.

Molly studied Dumbledore's face for any sign's of dishonesty or trickery. Satisfied, she waved them towards her home with her wand. Allowing them to pass her she followed the pair back towards her home, keeping her wand trained on Dumbledore's back.

Once the trio had entered the kitchen, Molly told them to sit at the old scrubbed oak table while she busied herself by filling the kettle and getting three mugs out of the cupboard. All the time making sure that her wand was never out of reach.

"I can't see any reason why we can't discuss this like adults. But be warned Albus, I don't trust you one little bit. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for allowing that poor little boy to be abused for so long. What on earth were you thinking?"

"In my defence Molly, I can assure you that I was unaware of the conditions Harry had to endure whilst living with his relatives. I assumed, wrongly, that Petunia would love Harry as her own. It is a mistake I shall regret for the rest of my life."

Dumbledore paused as he took a sip of his tea. "I didn't know of the bitter jealousy that Petunia held because Lily was born a witch."

It was McGonagall who spoke next. "We are equally to blame Albus, neither of us has ever thought to check on young Harry. I'm afraid it was very much a case of out of sight out of mind. All we can do now is make sure that Harry has the best care available."

"He'll be cared for just fine here. We may not have much, but we'll cope. He's already made friends with my two youngest."

Molly knew it would be a mistake to mention the link between Ginny and Harry. Some things shouldn't be shared.

"I meant what I said outside Molly. Harry can stay here for as long as he wants, providing of course that you want him to. You must remember that he will forever be a target, and by extension, so will your family as long as he is here."

Molly huffed, she was well aware of the violence that had continued after Voldemorts downfall. The Longbottoms, Alice and Frank, had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange only a few days later.

"There have been no reports in the Prophet of Death Eater attacks for years, and I am quite sure that I am able to look after my family if necessary. Besides, no one apart from us, knows he is here."

Dumbledore nodded, "This is true. However my offer stands, I will strengthen your wards as much as I am able to, just in case."

Molly glanced at her clock, it was nearing midday. Arthur would be home soon, and she still had to finish his dinner.

"Albus, Minerva. I have things to do right now. Would it be possible for you to come back tomorrow morning? As it's Saturday tomorrow Arthur will be home to assist you if you need him to.

"Certainly Molly", said McGonagall. "We will return in the morning, thank you for the tea."

Molly passed Dumbledore's wand to him and opened the door for them. "Until the morning then."

With that the two Proffessors made there way back to the Apparation point.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Molly had seen Dumbledore and McGonagall off, she returned to making lunch. The tell tale sound of the floo announced the arrival of Arthur.

"I'm in here Arthur," called Molly from the kitchen. "Lunch will soon be ready."

"Good, I could eat a Hipogriff. Did you get to read the paper this morning?" Asked Arthur as he walked into the kitchen.

Molly walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Yes I did, and I've had a couple of visitors this morning."

Arthur caught a glimpse of the smile on Molly's face, causing him to chuckle. "And who was that then, as if I need to ask."

"Albus and Minerva. They said that they will return in the morning to help reinforce the Burrow's wards."

"Looks like those letters you wrote did the trick then. I take it they didn't cause you any trouble?" Asked Arthur as he sat at his normal place at the head of the table.

"No, no trouble at all. Albus even swore a wizards oath not to try and remove Harry."

Molly walked over to the bottom of the stairs. "Kids! Lunch is ready!"

The sound of running feet came from the upper levels of the house as eight hungry children made their way down to the kitchen. When everyone was seated, Molly served the corned beef sandwiches she had made. As well as a couple of jugs of pumpkin juice.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Molly saw off her husband as he returned to work to complete the last afternoon shift of the week.

"Ok kids," she said as she came into the kitchen. "Before you all disappear, I've got a few chores that need doing. "Bill, Charlie and Percy, can you three dig up some spuds for me please. Not to many mind, just enough for dinner tonight. A couple of dozen decent sized ones should do."

Next she turned to the twins. "Fred and George, the Hen house needs new straw. This time though, I don't want to see you two having an egg fight."

The twins grinned at one another, remembering the last time they had been given this chore.

"I don't know what your grinning for, it's not a yoking matter." She said whilst giving a surreptitious wink to Harry and Ginny.

"Ron, you can go back to whatever you were doing this morning. As can Harry and Ginny, though you two need a bath. I'll run one for you in a minute, you can decide for yourselves who goes first."

Once everyone had left the kitchen, Molly made her way up to the family bathroom. She looked into Ginny's room first though and was amused to see the two of them looking at Ginny's small collection of Chocolate Frog Cards. Not a sound was being made by either of them, but they were obviously talking judging by the animated gestures their hands were making.

With a wry smile on her face, she went to run the bath. As she waited for the bath to fill, she looked around the room. It was badly in need of redecorating. The sink was chipped, the paint on the walls was flaking, and the carpet was threadbare. She sighed to herself, there was only so much you could accomplish with magic.

The trouble was, no matter how hard Arthur worked, or how many hours he put in. Finding enough Galleons every month was a struggle.

When the bath was ready, she made her may back into Ginny's room. "Ok you two, who is going first"

"I am!" They both shouted at once. Molly laughed as she rolled her eyes. "Make up your minds quickly, even with warming charms, the water will get cold eventually."

As Harry and Ginny began to debate, verbally and non-verbally, over which of them should have their bath first. Molly went out on to the landing to check on the twins from the window that faced that side of the garden. Seeing them arguing over who was going to clear out the dirty straw, she opened the window and shouted down to them.

"Stop arguing and get in there together."

Unfortunatly for Harry and Ginny, they didn't realise that Molly wasn't talking to them.

Shrugging at each other they walked across the hall and into the bathroom.

"_It makes sense I suppose, she knows we've seen each other without clothes anyway."_

Quickly undressing, they got into the bath together. Neither was embarrassed by actually seeing the other naked, or by being seen naked. To them it felt the most natural thing in the world.

"_I know your mum usually washes your hair, but do you mind if I have a go?"_

"_No I don't mind Harry, you know which one is my shampoo."_

Reaching up to get the bottle from the windowsill above the bath, Harry squeezed a large amount into his small hand. Working it into Ginny's hair as gently as he could, he started at her scalp and worked his way down her back. Ginny could feel the enjoyment Harry got from doing this one simple task for her.

This was how Molly found them. Ginny sat in front of Harry with her back to him, whist Harry was washing her hair for her. Both of them as naked as the day they were born.

"Harry, Ginny! What in Merlins name do you think your doing?"

Harry knew that Molly wasn't as angry as she sounded. But it still caused him to worry that he had somehow done something wrong. Ginny felt his worry through their link, and quickly spun around to face her mother. Shampoo suds running down the side of her face.

"We're having a bath together mummy, just like you told us to."

"I said no such thing young lady. I told you both to work it out between you who was going to go first."

"Then you shouted at us to just get in together. Honestly you did mummy, we both heard you."

Molly stared at her daughter for a moment before she started laughing. This made Harry calm down considerably. "I was shouting at Fred and George. I was telling them to get into the hen house together."

Molly made her way further into the room and sat on the stool beside the bath. "Oh well, no harm done I suppose. You've done a good job there Harry, it's always difficult to know how much shampoo to use on her hair, there's so much of it."

Harry simply smiled at her shyly as he began to rinse the suds out of Ginny's locks. For her part Ginny was looking at the back of her own head through Harry's eyes. Even though his eyesight was so poor, it didn't matter so much when he was this close to her.

"Why is my hair darker when it's wet mummy?"

"I don't really know darling, the water just makes it look darker, that's all."

Molly was in two minds as to how she felt about her daughter and Harry being so close. Although they had been only been in each others company for a couple of days, They acted so at ease around one another. Of course a lot of that could be attributed to their link, but it still made her feel as if they didn't have a say in the matter.

"Harry, Ginny. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Harry shook his head whilst Ginny said "of course not mummy."

"How do you two feel about this link of yours? I mean, you've come to accept this so easily.

"It's brilliant mummy, I know all my brothers love me. But none of them could understand me as well as Harry does. We can't play hide and seek though, or any other game where we need to keep secret what we're doing."

Harry looked at Ginny, it was obvious to Molly that he was silently talking to her.

"Go on Harry, tell her, she won't laugh." Said Ginny eventually.

"I've never had a friend before, and Ginny's been so good to me. If it wasn't for her, I would still be in that cupboard." He looked down as he said this. "I like the way she feels, she's so good, so kind. She's always happy. I don't want to go back to how it was before I came here."

"Ok kids, as long as your both happy, that's all that matters. Now you two finish your bath, although I think it would be best if you wash yourselves, and not each other."

The nest morning Harry was up at his usual time, five thirty. Not knowing what to do, he went out into the garden to watch the sunrise. He could feel that Ginny was still asleep up in her room. It seemed to him that he and Ginny had become more than just friends during the last couple of days since he had arrived at the burrow. Not that he had much, if any, experience of having friends. But he knew that even the closest of friends couldn't know each other as well as he and Ginny did.

They knew everything the other knew. They felt everything the other felt. They shared absolutely everything, nothing could be kept secret from the other. He thought back to the question that Molly had asked them when she caught them in the bath together yesterday morning. To them it was a silly question. Even after this relatively short amount of time it seemed to them as if they had known each other forever. How they felt about it didn't matter to them. To them it was natural. It was almost as if one person had two bodies. They had even reached a point where they liked and disliked the same foods, colours, smells and games.

His thoughts turned to Ginny's brothers, so far they hadn't had a great deal of interaction with them. He knew which of the six of them was Ginny's favourite, that would defiantly be Bill. He was what a big brother should be like. He always had time for her, he never lost his temper and was always patient.

The twins would be his favourites, followed closely by Ron. All three were so easy going and nice to him. He smiled wryly to himself, thinking of how the twins had tried to play a trick on him yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately for them Ginny had overheard them plotting. It wasn't anything nasty or malicious, unlike the sort of tricks Dudley used to play. They had wanted to turn his bedclothes pink, pinching one of their parents wands in order to do so.

But he and Ginny had swapped Harry's duvet with Fred's, and his pillow and sheet with George's. Once the twins had discovered that they had changed the colour of their own bedding, they laughed themselves silly. Even Molly had congratulated Harry and Ginny on getting one over on the twins. Something unheard of before.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Ginny stirring. Even though she wasn't a morning person, preferring to lie-in as long as possible, they had found that if one was awake, the other wouldn't take long to awaken either.

He followed her progress through the house, he already knew she was heading for the garden so she could keep him company. Eventually she joined him on the lawn outside the kitchen door. Not a word was spoken by either of them. No words were necessary, as both of them knew what the other was thinking.

Gazing eastwards, they watched as the sun rose slowly above the horizon. Ginny reached over to grasp Harry's hand without looking. There was no need for her to so.

"_What are we Harry?"_

"_We are two children with one mind." _Replied Harry, already knowing what she had meant by her question.

"_Are you scared Harry?"_

"_No Ginny, you already know I'm not. Not when I've got you to help me."_

After the sun had cleared the horizon, they turned to face each other. Harry reached out to grasp Ginny's other hand. As one they slowly sank to the ground, facing each other with their legs crossed. Chocolate brown eyes met emerald green.

This was how Molly found them almost an hour later, when she had come down to make the breakfast. Making her way out into the bright morning sun, she quietly approached them. Not wanting to disturb the tranquil ambiance that surrounded the two children.

After five minutes, the Weasley matriarch broke the peaceful silence.

"Are you two Ok?

As one Harry and Ginny turned to face her. Speaking at the same time they replied.

"We are fine thank you mummy, we couldn't sleep. So we came outside to enjoy the the morning air and watch the sun come up."

"Is that all you have been doing?" Asked Molly kindly

"No mummy." They replied, again in unison. "We have been sharing everything."

Molly sat down on the grass beside them. "What do you mean by everything? I thought you two shared everything already."

"No mummy, before we only shared our senses and our memories. Now we share everything, our thoughts, our dreams, our lives."

Molly looked from one to the other. Their features were expressionless, although she thought she could detect a faint glow emanating from them. But she put that down to the dawning sun making their skin shine.

"Well I'll repeat what I said to you both last night, your happiness and health is all that matters to us. As long as no harm comes to you both, we don't really mind that you two have this link of yours. In many ways it is a good thing, you will never know loneliness, and you will always have someone to look after you."

The three of the sat quietly as the sun continued to rise. Bathing the valley in its ever increasing warmth. Eventually Molly arose. "This will never do, we have guests coming this morning, and I should be getting breakfast ready. Not sitting out here wasting time."

With that she slowly made her way back into the house, feeling more at ease and refreshed than she had for as long as she could remember.

At precisely ten o'clock, a soft tapping could be heard at the kitchen door. As Percy was the only one in the kitchen at the time, he went to see who it was.

"Headmaster, Professor, please come in. Is everything all right? Your not here to take Harry are you? Because if you are, I don't think mum will let you."

The pair of teachers smiled at the third youngest Weasley boy before sitting at the large scrubbed oak table. It was McGonagall who answered his questions.

"Everything is fine Mr Weasley. Let me assure you that neither one of us will ever be foolish enough to try and remove any body from your mothers excellent care."

She cast a stern glance at Dumbledore when she said this. The elder wizard either did not notice, or chose to ignore his strict colleague.

"Would you be kind enough to let your parents know that we are here." Enquired Dumbledore.

"Certainly Sir. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later Molly and Arthur entered the kitchen via the staircase. Dumbledore stood to greet them, extending his hand for Arthur and then Molly to shake. After the rather stiff greeting, they proceeded to discuss what needed to be done to improve the Burrows security.

"I took the liberty of examining your wards as I entered your property. From what I could tell, you have the standard Ministry approved wards, Anti Muggle, Anti Harm, Flame Repeling etc. I also found a ward that must have been of your own invention. May I ask why you felt you needed to keep a certain person from visiting your property?"

Molly had a confused look on her face as she turned to her husband. "Arthur, who exactly are you keeping away?"

"Now, now, Molly. I did it for your own good. You know how much she can upset you, and when your upset, I'm upset as well.

Molly sprang to her feet, her chair toppling over backward as she did so. "Arthur Weasley! Are you trying to tell my that you placed a ward around our house to keep my aunt Muriel out?"

Arthur grimaced, he knew that he should have told his wife a long time ago. But the excuses her aunt kept on coming out with in order not to visit were getting more and more improbable and unlikely. The last time Molly had tried to invite her over, she had come up with the excuse that she was having her annual magical back wax.

Reaching up for his wife's hand, he tried his best puppy dog look on her. "I'm sorry my sweet, but you know how I feel about her."

Molly was about to reply but was interrupted by Dumbledore clearing his throat noisily. "Please excuse me for interrupting, but I believe we were discussing the wards that surround your property. With your permission, I will dismantle all of you current wards, and replace them with new ones. The wards I will construct will be far more powerful than your present ones, as I will key them into to rune stones that will encircle your property. I don't know how much you know about these types of wards, but you will have to be very specific about who you will allow through them. No one will be able to breach them unless they have been keyed into the master stone. This stone will need to be placed as close to the centre of the grounds of the property as possible."

"Sorry for interrupting Albus, but how exactly do we key some one in to this master stone?" Asked Arthur, glad for the interruption of his wife's tirade. Although he knew that it was only delaying the inevitable.

"Quite all right Arthur. All that is required is a drop of blood from the person you wish to add. Obviously you must never remove the master stone from the property, for if you do, the wards will fail immediately. Now I believe I am correct in saying that you currently have ten people living here."

"Yes, you're right Albus. The nine of us and Harry." Replied Molly, who by now had righted her chair and resumed her position at the table. Not as close to her husband as she had been previously though.

"We will need to gather samples of blood from everyone prior to me casting the wards. But first we must find a suitable stone or rock, and of course the centre of the property." Dumbledore said thoughtfully as he stocked his long white beard.

"Well Albus, I would think that the centre of our lands would be somewhere near the edge of the orchard. Any idea how big the stone needs to be?" Replied Arthur, after a few moments thought.

"The larger the better Arthur, the bigger it is, the more unlikely it is that it will be removed."

"If you'll care to follow me, I think I know of the perfect rock."

With that Arthur stood and headed for the door. Opening it he allowed his wife, Dumbledore and McGonagall to exit before joining them in the garden. They followed him across the lawn towards the edge of the small orchard. Walking along the edge of the trees, the majority of which were heavy with fruit, Arthur stopped at what appeared to be a large mound in the grass. Looking around him Arthur seemed to reach a conclusion.

"This is as close to the middle of our land as far as I can tell. Under this mound is a rock or boulder. I tried digging it out when we first moved here, but it's massive, I couldn't even move it with magic."

Dumbledore removed his wand from his robes, and waved it over the grassy mound. After he had finished, the bare rock was exposed down to the level of the rest of the lawn. Replacing his wand, he walked around the exposed rock with a delighted expression on his face.

"I'm no expert, but I think this is actual bedrock. I believe that the valley in which you reside was formed by a glacier thousands of years ago. This rock must have been harder than the surrounding ground, and was left once the glacier had receded. This will be ideal as the master stone as it is virtually impossible to remove, and the only way to bring the wards down will be to destroy it. It will take a very powerful witch or wizard to breach the wards once they have been set."

Dumbledore seemed to be saying the last bit to himself, as he walked around the newly exposed rough rock.

Looking at his three companions he continued. "It will take me about two hours to carve the necessary runes. If you would be so kind as to gather your family at..." He pulled a gleaming silver pocket watch from his robes. "One o'clock, I should be ready."

It was McGonagall who spoke next. "We will leave you to it then Albus." As they walked back towards the house she turned to Molly and Arthur. "Would it be possible for me to meet young Harry?"

"Of course Minerva, he's upstairs at the moment, I'll call him when we get back indoors"

After they had settle themselves back around the the kitchen table, Molly went to the bottom of the stairs and called for Harry.

"Harry, Harry! We have a visitor who would very much like to meet you. Can you come down here please."

The sound of footsteps soon followed as Harry and Ginny made their way down to see who had come to visit him.

"Ah, good there you are. I would like you to meet an old friend of ours. This lady is Professor Minerva McGonagall. She is the transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, and has asked to meet you Harry."

Harry shyly walked up to the professor and shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you Ma'am."

McGonagall took note of the gaunt look of the young boy in front of her, but chose not comment on it. "Pleased to meet you too Harry. I've been looking forward to meeting you again for a very long time. Tell me, How are you feeling?"

"Very well thank you now that I'm with Molly, her cooking is brilliant." He replied as he turned to look up at Molly with a wide smile on his face.

"If it Ok with you, I would like you to meet another friend of ours. A very kind lady called Poppy." Said McGonagall.

Harry turned again to look at Molly. "It's Ok Harry, Poppy Pomfrey is the Healer at Hogwarts, she and Minerva were both there when I was at school."

Harry didn't say anything, but simply nodded his approval.

McGonagall stood from the table, and after asking permission to use the floo, walked through to the living room. After five minutes, she walked back into the kitchen, closely followed by a kindly looking lady.

Poppy Pomfrey had been in her office in the hospital wing, making an inventory of her stock of potions when the floo had gone off. "Poppy, sorry to trouble you. But could you spare a few minutes to come and look at a severely malnourished child I have with me?" Said McGonagall through the flames.

"Where are you Minerva?" She asked whilst grabbing her potion bag and wand.

"The Weasley's home."

"Mind out the way then, and I'll be right through."

Walking into the kitchen of the Burrow, Poppy immediately rushed over to Harry and knelt down in front of him, ignoring the others who where around him.

"And what is your name young man?"

"Harry Potter Ma'am."

Poppy whipped her head around to look at McGonagall and raised her eyebrows at her. McGonagall gave an almost imperceivable nod.

Returning her attention to the child in front of her, she reached out and gently held his shoulders. "Well Mr. Potter, let me have a good look at you. Shall we go into the living room so that you can be more comfortable?"

Harry looked at Ginny. "Only if Ginny can come with me."

"Of course she can, now go and lay on one of the sofas, and I'll be with you in a few moments."

After Harry and Ginny had left the room, Poppy turned on McGonagall. "Is that really him?"

"Yes Poppy, it is." She replied.

"And who may I ask, is responsible for him being so thin?" She asked looking around the room.

Arthur, Molly and MvGonagall looked at each other before Molly spoke up. "Well it depends how you look at it. On one hand you could say it was his Aunt and Uncle who didn't feed him properly. But on the other you could argue that it was the person who placed him with them who is ultimately responsible."

"And do you know the identity of that person? Because if you do, I would dearly like to give them quite a large piece of my mind."

It was McGonagall who answered her. "Albus Dumbledore."

"You wait until I see that doddery old fool. He won't hear the last of this. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have a patient to see."

Poppy walked into the living room to find Harry laid out on the sofa with Ginny holding his hand. She placed her potions bag on the floor beside her as she perched on the end of the sofa.

"How long have you been here Harry?" She asked softly.

"Two days now Ma'am." He replied after glancing at Ginny.

"And have you been eating properly since you've been here?"

"Yes Ma'am. Molly's cooking is wonderful, especially her treacle tart."

Poppy gave him a warm smile before calling back through to the kitchen. "Molly, can you come and join us please."

After Molly had joined them, Poppy turned to her. "Well young Harry here seems to enjoy your food immensely. Just keep feeding him as you have been doing and he will soon gain weight. I'll give you a couple of potions that must be taken after he has eaten. The first one will boost his ability to absorb nutriments. The second is a general vitamin draught. This will just give his system some help."

Rising to her feet she looked down at Harry. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you young man?"

Expecting a reply from Harry, she was surprised to say the least when instead it was Ginny who replied.

"His eyes are bad, Mummy says he needs glasses."

Poppy waved her wand over Harry's face a few times whilst muttering an incantation. "Yes, yes, this will never do. Minerva, would you mind joining us. I'm in need of your transfiguration skills."

After McGonagall, closely followed by Arthur, had joined them. Poppy turned and spoke to her.

"It would seem that young Harry here is in need of a pair of spectacles, would you be so kind as to transfigure something into a pair for me until I can get him something more permanent. Don't worry about the prescription, I can alter them as required."

Arthur handed her a battered hairbrush. "Will this do Minerva?"

"That will be just fine thank you Arthur."

Placing the hairbrush on the small corner table that was next to the fire place, she flicked her wand twice and it quickly changed in to a pair of round lensed black framed glasses.

"Not very stylish I'm afraid, but will these do?" Asked McGonagall, as she passed them to Poppy.

"Yes, these will be fine. Now pop them on Harry, and I'll adjust the lenses to your prescription."

Harry took the glasses from Madam Pomfrey and gingerly put them on. At first his eye sight was no better, but as the Medi-Witch waved her wand, first one, then the other eye came into focus.

Ginny was smiling broadly at him after the lenses had been corrected. "That's brilliant Harry, you can see way better now." Realising that she had said to much, she slammed her mouth shut.

"What was that young lady? How can you possibly know how well Harry can see?" Asked Poppy.

It was Molly who replied, knowing that her daughter had let slip. "It's quite difficult to explain Poppy. But before I do, I must ask that this goes no further." Both the Medi-Witch and McGonagall nodded their acceptance of Molly's request.

"I'm surprised that neither of you have yet asked how Harry came to be here. It would seem that Harry and Ginny share some sort of a link or bond. They share all of their senses, and also have the ability to to talk to each other in their minds.

Without saying a word Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over the two young children. Frowning, she repeated the diagnostic charm.

"Well that would explain it, though I'm sure I've never seen or heard of anything like it."

"What is it that you have discovered may I ask?" Enquired McGonagall, completely intrigued.

"I take it you have all seen identical twins?" At Molly's chuckle she frowned. "Oh how silly of me, I completely forgot that you have twins of your own Molly. Where was I? Oh yes, Identical twins. Well it would seem that these youngsters have identical souls."

"How is that possible?" Asked McGonagall and Molly at the same time.

"No idea whatsoever. You were quite right however to try and keep this secret. If those quacks at St. Mungo's ever got hold of them, well lets just say that we would all be very old before they released them."

Madam Pomfrey tapped her chin with her wand. "These children are unique, and I suspect that what you have seen so far will only have been the tip of the iceberg." She turned to Molly and Arthur. "Never, ever, take them to anyone else but me. If you need anything, anything at all, no matter what time of day or night, call me. Understand? Good, now I'll be off. Molly, don't forget those potions I gave you for Harry."

On here way over to the fireplace, she paused and turned back to look at Harry. "Do you like those glasses?"

When he nodded his reply, she thoughtfully taped the side of her face with her fingers. "I should be able to find you a similar pair very soon. Don't worry though, Minerva's transfiguration should last a few days."

With that she took a pinch of floo powder, and disappeared back to Hogwarts.

McGonagall cleared her throat, "Don't worry, I will be keeping what I have learnt here today to myself. Now shall we go and see how Albus is getting on."

The three adults and two children made their way out into the bright sunshine.


	8. Chapter 8

Jack Skinner was an ordinary wizard. There was nothing extraordinary about him, in fact most of his peers would say that he was boring. Being a muggle born, he had to miss the majority of his schooling at Hogwarts, as it was at this time of his life that Voldemort had been at his stongest.

Now aged twenty two, he had managed to scrape a couple of N.E.W.T.S., after the Dark Lord had been defeated. With hardly any qualifications to speak of, he had to take any job he could get. Eeylops Owl Emporium had taken him on as a junior cage cleaner after he had left school. Now five years latter, he had worked his way up to the dizzy height of salesman.

He lived in the tiny one room flat in the shops basement. The owner of the flat, old man Eeylop, took the rent straight out of his wages. Leaving him barely enough for food and the occasional second hand set of robes.

He allowed himself no luxuries, saving a few knuts a month to send to his little sister, a fourth year in Hufflepuff. She was his responsibility now, their parents having been killed shortly before the war had ended.

Yesterday he had a stroke of luck though, a customer had left that days copy of the Daily Prophet on the counter after purchasing some owls treats. Jack couldn't remember the last time he had read an up to date copy. He usually had to hear the news from gossiping old witches, or else had to wait until back copies were used to line the bottom of the cages.

That evening he had allowed himself the luxury of lighting two candles to read by. What he had read had angered him so much that he had performed accidental magic. How could the powers that be have abandoned the Saviour of the Wizarding world, the Boy Who Lived himself, to those horrible people?

He remembered being fifteen when the news that Harry Potter had defeated the most powerful evil wizard of all time had reached the safe house that he and his sister were staying in. Only an infant at the time, little Harry had been hailed as the hero of magical Britain. Members of the Wizengamot had even gone so far as to suggest awarding him an Order of Merlin. It had only been the personal intervention of Dumbledore that had prevented that from happening.

A spark of determination entered his being, something he had not felt for a long time. The feeling of determination grew and grew until it consumed him. He would be the one to avenge little Harry. He would be the one to show the Dursleys that they shouldn't mess with wizards. His miserable, Merlin forsaken life would finally be worth something.

With his resolve hardening, he prepared to set out. Gathering his meagre belongings, he left his flat, not even bothering to lock the door behind him.

Jack sat in Privet Drive all the next day. From his vantage point, the back of a transit van, he could see number four quite clearly. He was waiting for night fall, when the street would be less busy.

Eventually night fell, but still he did not move. He waited, for what, he did not know. He just had a feeling that if he waited just a little while longer, his patience would pay dividends.

At eleven thirty, he slowly exited the van. Keeping to the shadows, he cautiously avoided the pools of light cast by the street lamps. Approaching number four, he stopped briefly. Listening intently for any sound.

Hearing nothing but the gentle rumble of far away traffic, he made his way into the front garden of the property. Keeping off of the path, he walked across the grass, so as to reduce the risk of making any noise.

As he reached the front door, Jack withdrew his wand. A quietly whispered "Alohomora" allowed him to open it. Before entering the house, Jack cast a series of notice-me-not charms and muggle repelling wards. Quickly stepping into the hallway, he closed the door behind him, ensuring that the latch made only the faintest of clicks.

Wand in hand, Jack systemically searched the ground floor, only stopping briefly to look in the cupboard under the stairs.

Mounting the bottom stair, he looked up into the darkness of the first floor landing. Hearing nothing, he cautiously climbed the stairs. Reaching the top, he stopped to listen again. From his right he could hear a rhythmical 'slap...slap...slap'.

Peering down the hallway, all he could see was a faint strip of light from under one of the bedroom doors. Weary of loose or creaky floorboards, he flattened himself against the wall opposite the occupied room. Sliding noiselessly along the wall, Jack approached the door. The noise was quite loud now. 'Slap...slap...slap...slap'.

His curiosity piqued, he reached out and grabbed the door handle. Turning it slowly, he gently opened the door a fraction. The room was obviously the master bedroom. A large comfortable bed was against the wall opposite the door. Double wardrobes flanked it either side, dressing table, chest of drawers, mirror. All were present, not that Jack paid them any attention. He was transfixed by what was happening in the bed.

The only light in the room came from a small lamp on the dressing table. But this was enough for Jack to see clearly the large obese man laying flat on his back, completely naked. On top of him was a ridiculously skinny woman, equally naked.

Slap...slap...slap...slap.

Up and down she bounced on him. With no hips to speak of, and a flat bony arse. She was as different physically as chalk and cheese to the man she was on top of.

Slap...slap...slap...slap.

As she came down on him, rolls of fat on his stomach and legs wobbled like jelly.

Slap...slap...slap...slap.

They carried on like this for a further five minutes. Jack watching through the crack in the door, almost hypnotised by what he was seeing. Eventually the huge man gave a guttural grunt as he climaxed. The thin woman collapsed on top of him, obviously unfulfilled.

It was this point that Jack decided to make his entrance. Flinging the door open wide, he stepped into the room, wand held out in front of him.

Without saying a word, he flicked his wand. The woman flew straight up, off of the man she had just finished making love to. She hit the ceiling hard, lumps of plaster and artex raining down onto the bed. With a squeal of surprised, the fat man sat up, desperately trying to cover himself as he did so.

With another flick of his wand, Jack sent him to the ceiling as well. Spinning him as he did so, in order to make sure that he was facing downward when he impacted the rough artex.

Jack casually waved his wand once again.

"That, my friends, was a silencing charm. In case you haven't guessed by the title, it will prevent you from opening your fucking gobs."

He walked forwards a few steps, until he was at the foot of the bed. Looking up at the naked forms of his victims almost caused him to vomit. The woman was hardly what could be described as attractive. Long brown hair fell either side of her face, pointing down towards the bed. Her breasts, small and pointed, did likewise. Drops of blood were running down her sides from her back.

Jack didn't know or care where the blood came from. All he knew was that he wanted them to suffer as much as possible.

He was even more repulsed by the sight of the immense lump of lard that was the woman's lover. Huge rolls of fat covered virtually his whole body. Piggy little eyes stared defiantly at him from his blood shot face. Drops of semen fell onto the bed from where his penis must have been. Not that Jack could see anything, hidden as it was by huge thighs and stomach.

"I know that you are Vernon and Petunia Dursley. And that you are both guilty of the torture and abuse of the wizarding worlds saviour, Harry Potter."

At the sound of their nephews name, the Dursleys turned deathly pale. Confirming to Jack that what he had read in the Prophet was indeed true.

"The question is; what do I do with you? You see, you are held to the ceiling by a simple sticking charm. Eventually it will wear off and you will fall harmlessly onto the bed. I could have made it a permanent sticking charm, but that wouldn't have been any fun. You would simply die of thirst in a few days."

Jack tapped his chin with his wand tip thoughtfully. "I know, we'll have a bit of sport. I always wanted to know what I was better at, charms or transfiguration."

Waving his wand once more, Jack transfigured the bed and covers into evil looking rows of razor sharp metal spikes. Each one being two feet in length, and pointing straight up.

Seeing the spikes below him, Vernon started to struggle violently.

"I wouldn't do that if I where you." Said Jack. "You see, the sticking charm is holding you to the ceiling. What you have got to ask yourself is, what is holding the ceiling up? Not a lot, I would bet."

Vernon stilled immediately, a look of absolute horror crossing his face. Petunia wasn't fairing much better, tears had started to form. It was the first time she had cried since receiving Dumbledore's rejection letter, all those years ago.

She hadn't even cried at her sisters funeral, five previously. But now they had started to fall, she couldn't stop them.

Jack noticed the 'plop, plop, plop.' Of tears falling on to the carpet.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Petunia why are you crying? Is it fear perhaps? Are you afraid Petunia? Or are they tears of anger? Or maybe you're feeling sorry for yourself . Sorry that there maybe the possibility that the last thing you did with your worthless life, is shag the whale next to you."

Jack grinned to himself as he imagined the fear that these two would endure as the hours went by.

"As I can see it, this can end up one of three ways. Firstly, the spikes turn back into a bed before the sticking charm wears off. In which case you'll fall harmlessly onto it. Secondly, the sticking charm will wear off first, I'll let you figure out what happens in that scenario. Lastly, the sticking charm lasts so long that you die of thirst."

As Jack was speaking, Vernon's bladder gave up on him, and a stream of urine splattered onto the carpet.

Ignoring Vernon completely, Jack carried on speaking,

"I won't be able to stay and find out unfortunately. I have an appointment to keep with a rather undesirable individual. There is a huge demand among the Voodoo magicians of the Caribbean for fresh body parts. Especially those of young children. Your Dudley is going to make me very rich.

With that, Jack turned on his heels and walked out of the room. He already knew what the outcome would be, his transfiguration would last about fifteen hours. Where as the sticking charm would only last ten, eleven torturous hours at best. Petunia would have to watch as Vernon fell first of course, being the heaviest. She would probably then fall about an hour later. The muggle authorities would be stumped, finding the two of them dead on the bed with impalement wounds.

Turning right, he headed towards Dudley's room. Entering it, he walked over to the fat child sleeping peacefully in his bed. Grabbing hold of the sleeping boys arm, he turned and dissapparated away.

Molly, Arthur and Minerva walked in front of Harry and Ginny as they made their way back to where Dumbledore was working. When they arrived at the newly exposed rock, they could all see that he had been very busy. The rock had been shaped, obviously by magic, into a squat flat pillar. Around the circumference of the pillar, various runes had been carved. Dumbledore was finishing off the master rune, on top of the pillar.

Waving his wand like some manic orchestral conductor, the rune gradually took shape. Eventually he finished, shaking from exertion, and more than slightly sweaty, Dumbledore slumped to the ground.

Minerva rushed to his side, concern for her elderly colleague etched on her stern features. But Dumbledore waved her off before she was able to help him.

"Leave me for a moment please Minerva, that took a bit more magic than I originally thought it would. Never mind though, as they say, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger."

He managed to look up at Minerva, his eyes sparkling madly.

"I don't suppose I could have a cool glass of fresh lemonade could I?"

Minerva frowned, "what on earth is lemonade?"

It was Harry who answered her. "It's a drink my relatives had, I don't think Molly's got any."

Ginny knew what it was as well, through Harry of course. But since her slip up in front of Poppy she had decided to try and not talk to much in front of strangers. She hated to appear like a shy little girl, but if her and Harry's abilities were to remain secret, she would put up with it.

"Not to worry, I'm sure a pumpkin juice will be fine. I must see to having a supply of lemonade at the school though. I've become rather fond of the flavour."

Ignoring the headmasters musings, Molly quickly whipped out her wand and summoned six glasses and a flagon of pumpkin juice.

Minerva quickly conjured a thick tartan blanket, which laid itself under one of the nearby pear trees. The four adults and two children sat under the welcome shade of the tree as they sipped on their drinks.

"What's to be done next?" Asked Arthur, looking at Dumbledore.

"When I have sufficiently caught my breath, I will need to cast the wards. Before I do that though each member of your family and friends will need to provide a small sample of blood. As I explained yesterday, this will allow them access to your property without coming to any harm."

Arthur scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Will I be able to add others in the future? You know, if one of the boys want to bring friends home, or if we have a large gathering or party?"

He glanced at Molly as he said the last bit, knowing full well how much she loved to throw large parties at a drop of a hat.

Dumbledore was interrupted by Molly before he could answer.

"And what about people unexpectedly apparating here, or people using the floo?"

Dumbledore strocked his long white beard before answering. "The wards will not allow anyone to apparate inside them. I would suggest that you have a set apparation point. The end of the lane that leads to your property would seem most suitable. As for the floo, only those who have been keyed into the wards will be able to use it to come here."

He took a sip of his drink before continuing.

"It is quite easy to key anyone into the wards, all it will take is a simple charm that I will will happily teach you both; and of course a sample of their blood."

Dumbledore rested his back against the rough bark of the tree. "Give me an hour or so, and I will be rested enough to continue. In the meantime, might I suggest that you gather the blood samples. Minerva, would you be so kind as to conjure sufficient vials for Arthur and Molly to collect the samples?"

McGonnagal nodded expressionlessly. "Of course Albus. Arthur how many do you think you will need?"

Arthur looked up to the sky as he mentally totalled up the number of people who would need to be added.

"Well, let me see. There are the ten of us including young Harry. Molly's aunt, Muriel. The two of you of course." He said nodding towards Dumbledore and McGonnagal. "That should do for now."

Molly coughed loudly, "I'm sure we must have forgotten one or two people." She said, giving Arthur a pointed look. "And don't think I haven't remembered your little bit of tampering with our old wards. We shall be having words about your actions towards my aunt."

"Yes dear." Was all that Arthur said in response, causing Dumbledore and McGonnagal to chuckle softly.

"I shall conjure twenty vials Molly. Once a vial has been used it must be disposed of, other wise you risk the chance of contamination. My conjuring isn't as good as Albus's, but they should last a few days until they vanish."

"Harry, Ginny, might I impose upon you to gather the members of the family who are currently here." Said Dumbledore, with a friendly grin on his heavily lined face.

Without a word, the two children got up and wandered slowly towards the house hand in hand.

"I haven't had a chance to thank you both for helping like this. I must admit that it has been a worry having little Harry here. Merlin knows he has had a hard enough life as it is, and we certainly don't want to add to his problems. But do you think that there really are people out there who would want to target him?" Asked Molly, a worried frown on her face.

It was Dumbledore who answered her. "No one regrets more than I what he has had to endure whilst living with his relatives. I arrogantly assumed that I knew best, and I now realise that that arrogance could have easily cost young Harry his life. I have every confidence in you Molly, you are a good kind loving woman. Anyone who cares about people as much as you will make sure that Harry is raised with all the right values."

Dumbledore shifted his back against the tree before continuing.

"I am afraid that there will always be people who will resent Harry for his part in Voldemorts downfall. They will resent him because he denied them a way of life that they thought they were entitled to because of who they were. What I am hoping to accomplish with these wards is to provide you with the best protection I am able to. I will not deny that you are your family will be greatly inconvenienced by having them in place, but even if they were to fail, you would have plenty of time to make good your escape."

Molly, Arthur and even McGonnagal all winced at the sound of Voldemorts name being spoken, but nodded their acceptance of what Dumbledore had told them.

"It would appear that young Harry and your daughter have managed to assemble your children. Minerva, would you be so kind as to ready the vials please."

Harry and Ginny were leading a very confused looking group of red headed children towards where the adults were sitting.

"Thank you for joining us everyone, this should take but a moment of your time. As you all know by now, Harry Potter will be staying with you until he reaches school age. Your mother and father have graciously allowed him to stay here at The Burrow as his previous residence was far from satisfactory."

Dumbledore paused for a moment as he considered how much the children in front of him actually need to know. Deciding that there was little if any point to withholding information that their parents could quite easily provide at a later date.

"The reason I have asked you all to come here is this", he said, gesturing to newly exposed rock that he had been working on.

"I have turned this into a key-stone. Now, do any of you know the purpose of a key-stone?

Bill tentatively raised his hand.

"Ah yes, young Master William, I though you might. Please go ahead and enlighten your siblings and Mr Potter.

Bill walked over to the rock. After running his fingers over the newly carved runes, he turned and faced the watching ensemble.

"A key-stone is required when you wish to permanently cast strong Wards around a magical property. As long as magic is performed regularly, they will continue to recharge. Hogwarts has similar Wards, though I've never seen the key-stone there."

Dumbledore stood and clapped. "Well done, well done indeed. When we return to school, remind me to award you fifty house points. It is your wish to become a curse breaker, is it not?"

Bill beamed at the praise that he had been given. "Yes Headmaster, it's something I'm really interested in."

"Continue to study as you have been doing, and I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to. Do you agree Minerva?"

"Absolutly Headmaster. That was a very good explanation William."

Dumbledore turned back to face the gathered children. "One drawback of these type of Wards is that they will only allow those whose blood has been keyed to the stone through. This means that I must ask each of you to donate a few drops of your precious blood. Do any of you have any objections?"

"What about Scabbers, will he have to give blood?" Asked Ron.

Dumbledore looked at him quizzically, "and who, prayer tell, is Scabbers?"

"Percys pet rat. Don't worry about it Ron, the Wards won't harm animals. Isn't that right Headmaster?" Said Charlie, ruffling his younger brothers hair.

"But Scabbers is special, he's not just a rat." Said Ron, starting to cry.

Dumbledore smiled gently at the youngest of the Weasley brethren. "If it will make you feel better, then I see no reason why we can not key Scabbers into the Wards as well."

This earned him an approving nod from Molly and Arthur. Even though the rat was Percy's pet, Ron spent just as much, if not more, time playing and caring for the rodent.

Harry and Ginny had been listening intently to all that had been going on. Harry had felt Ginny getting more and more upset through their link.

"Go on, ask him, he seems nice enough, I'm sure he won't mind."

Ginny turned and looked at Harry, who smiled at her reasuringly.

Gathering up their combined courage, she slowly raised her hand.

"Now now my dear, no need to ask permission to speak. What is it you would like to know?" Asked Dumbledore kindly.

"Well sir, Scabbers isn't the only pet we have, Errol our owl will need to be locked in as well."

Dumbledore chuckled at the innocence of the young girl before him. "I think you mean keyed in, and don't worry about your owl. Hogwarts has lots of owls coming and going all the time. None of them have been keyed into the schools Wards. You see, owls have a magic all of their own. That is how they know where to take your mail, even if you don't know where you are, they do."

Clapping his hands, in order to gain everyone's attention, he took one of the conjured vials from McGonnagal. "Who would like to go first? Don't fret, it is completely painless. Molly, would you care to demonstrate?"

Molly got up from her place on the rug, and held her hand out to Dumbledore. Placing the vial at the tip of her finger, he gave it a gentle tap and a few drops of crimson blood filled it less than a third of the way.

Molly held her finger up for her children to look at. "See kids, not even a scratch."

Dumbledore reached for another vial. "It may be of interest to you, the Muggles have a saying you may have heard. 'Like trying to get blood out of a stone'. They think it means trying to get something out of somebody who doesn't want to give. The saying actually came from the spell we are about to perform. The rock, or 'stone' will absorb your blood. Once it has done so, nothing can be done to reverse it."

Turning to look at Molly and Arthur he continued.

"That is why you must chose carefully those whom you wish to add."

Returning his gaze to the children he held up the empty vial. "Now, who is next?"

One by one they all took their turn in giving a sample of their blood. Eventually Dumbledore had twelve vials in front of him.

"One last sample to collect, where is Scabbers?"

Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleeping rat. "Here he is sir."

Dumbledore gently held a vial to the rodents furry underside, and tapped the rats back twice with his wand. The result was the same as it had been with everyone who had given samples of blood.

Percy returned the still sleeping Scabbers to his pocket as Dumbledore levitated the vials towards the prepared stone.

Placing the vials on the smooth surface of the rock, he turned towards Arthur. "Now then Arthur, you will need to learn this so that you may add others to your Wards in the future."

Pulling the stopper out of one of the vials he poured the blood contained within onto the flatten top of the rock. Withdrawing his wand, he pointed it at the blood. "Custodia introrsus lapis" he said, in a loud clear voice. The thick crimson liquid slowly disappeared as it was absorbed into the stone.

"Now Arthur, it's your turn. Pick a sample, any one, it doesn't matter at this stage, and repeat what I did."

Arthur approached the rock and stood next to Dumbledore. Picking up one of the vials he repeated the steps that he had just witnessed being performed.

"Well done!" Cried Dumbledore joyfully, after Arthur had completed the ritual. "I had no doubt that you would be able to do it satisfactorily. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like for you to perform the same ritual on the rest of the samples as I prepare to cast the Wards."

"Of course not Albus, practice makes perfect as they say."

Arthur dutifully performed the same ritual on the remaining samples as Dumbledore walked around the Key-stone, wand in hand.

When Arthur had finished, he walked back to where his wife and McGonnagal were standing and waited patiently for Dumbledore to complete whatever it was he was doing.

Eventually Dumbledore stopped and came over to where the others were waiting. "I am ready to cast the Wards now. Everything is as it should be. This will not be a quick process, and I will need utmost silence in order to concentrate. So I would respectfully suggest that you amuse yourselves elsewhere."

Molly turned to her children and Harry. "You heard him kids, shoo. Unless you want me to find you things to do?" Turning to face McGonnagal she asked, "would you care to join me and Arthur for a cuppa in the kitchen?"

"That would be most kind Molly, dare I ask if you have any of your delicious home made shortbread biscuits?" She replied.

"I should have Minerva, that is if my Ron hasn't found where I hide them. I swear that boy has a hollow leg."

All of the children, apart from Harry and Ginny headed back indoors with the three adults.

Harry turned to Ginny and asked out loud for Dumbledores benefit, "what would you like to do?"

Ginny pretended to think for a moment before answering. "Lets go into the orchard, the plums are lovely."

Hand in hand they walked off into the orchard, soon they were out of sight of the aged wizard. Finding a shady spot under one of the fruit trees, Harry sat down. Ginny sat in between his legs, and rested her head on his chest. She had no need to ask if he was comfortable or not, she knew that he disliked the touch of another human being, except when it was her.

Harry had never been hugged, or cuddled, or touched in an affectionate way for as long as he could remember. She knew that the simple action of her using him as a make-shift pillow meant the world to him. Every time they touched, whether it be a hug, or something as simple as holding hands, the feeling of being wanted emanating from Harry almost overwhelmed her.

She had never known loneliness, forlornness, unhappiness as Harry had. Ginny knew that they were only young; but she had a feeling that he would never experience those feelings again. Not all the time that they were together.

Harry, on the other hand was simply happy to be doing nothing. He was alone with the one person in the world who could understand him. Molly and Arthur, good people though they were, would never be able to comprehend exactly what he had been through. He couldn't put into words what Ginny meant to him. He didn't think the words had been invented that could possibly describe how much he had come to rely on her.

Friendship? No what they had went way beyond that. Love? He was no expert on love, but surely even a couple who had been in love all their lives couldn't possibly know each other as well as he and Ginny did.

Harry suddenly stiffened, he had felt something. Something unusual, but reassuring at the same time. Ginny hadn't felt it herself, but she had through Harry. Wordlessly they stood as one, facing each other they clasped hands, staring into each others eyes.

Harry tried to figure out what it was that he was feeling. It wasn't anything coming from Ginny, of that he was sure. It wasn't coming from a specific direction, it seemed to be all around them. It was defiantly new, something neither of them had ever experienced before. Whatever it was, was in the very air that surrounded them.

Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back. An energy had surrounded them. He could feel it deep inside. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was just there. Then gently, another layer of energy mixed with the first.

A huge grin appeared on both of their faces, the two energies complimented each other. As if they were meant to be together, just as Harry and Ginny were meant to be together.

Then it dawned on them whet it was that they were feeling. Magic.

Pure unadulterated magic. The new Wards, it had to be. They were sensing the magic of the Wards. A third layer joined the first two, again, complimenting them perfectly. They could almost feel what each Wards purpose was.

Then a fourth layer was added, the energy of the magic was wonderful. They pulled each other into a hug as they let the energy wash over them. They had never felt as alive as they did at this moment.

A fifth layer was soon added. As each layer integrated with the others, the Wards became stronger.

They felt a sixth layer charge the air around them. But something was wrong, not with the magic itself, but with the way it adapted itself to fit into the combination of Wards. It was like trying to combine oil with water, the magic refused to mix properly.

Returning his gaze to Ginny, he spoke out loud. "It's wrong."

Needlessly nodding in agreement, Ginny let go of one of Harry's hands as they headed back to where Dumbledore was.

They found him on top of the Key-stone, his arms held out wide, wand in right hand. He appeared to be in a trance of some kind, as his eyes were shut and he was slowly swaying from side to side.

Harry released his hold on Ginny's hand, and without a second thought, climbed on top of the rock next to the elderly wizard.

Grabbing hold of Dumbledore's robes, he tugged hard, trying to get his attention. Dumbledore eventually opened his eyes and looked down with a surprised expression on his lined face.

"What is the matter Harry? Couldn't you see I was concentrating? Fortunately for you I had just finished."

"Sorry sir, but I had to tell you. You were doing it wrong."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise at the young boys statement. "What do you mean, 'wrong'?"

"I...I could feel it sir. I could feel the magic. The first few times if all fit together. But the last one, well the last one didn't. It wasn't right, it was wrong."

Dumbledore thought furiously for a brief moment. Could it be possible? Could this six year old child possibly be able to detect magic? If it were so, and he had no grounds to believe that Harry had any reason to lie, then this would be unprecedented.

Turning his gaze towards Ginny, who had calmly sat on the lush grass at the rocks base, he asked. "And what about you young lady? Did you feel anything?"

"Ginny's eye's flicked towards Harry before settling on Dumbledore. "No sir, only Harry could feel it."

Dumbledore settled himself down onto the rock in order to make himself more comfortable. Stroking his beard, he turned one again towards Harry. "Is this the first time you have 'felt' magic?"

Harry thought for a moment before answering. "No sir, but before I didn't know what it was. I got the same feeling whenever Molly or Arthur did magic. Only a lot weaker."

"Interesting". Dumbledore said almost to himself. "Well, young Harry, you have a unique gift. There are very few adult wizards who can detect magic, and up until today, no children could do this. Now you say that the last Ward I cast didn't compliment the others?"

"Yes sir, it was wrong."

"If it is Ok with you, I would like to try something. You see, those who can 'feel' magic often are able to manipulate it as well."

"What does 'manipulate' mean sir?"

"It means that you can make it do what you want. Here, take my wand, see if you can make the last Ward, the last bit of magic fit better."

Harry took hold of the old man's wand. But it felt wrong to him, so he handed it straight back.

"Your wand doesn't like me, if felt wrong as well. I don't think I need it anyway."

Putting his right hand out in front of him, Harry shut his eyes and felt for the magic again. Quickly finding it, he reached out with his own magic, just as he had when he needed help from Ginny.

If anybody had asked him, he wouldn't have been able to tell them how he managed it. Instinctively he used his own magic to mould the last Ward so it mixed perfectly with the others. It wasn't something tangible, he couldn't see, touch, or use any of his normal senses. Instead he relied on his magic, as it was that which allowed him to feel the magic of the Wards.

When he finished, it seemed as though the very air around them glowed briefly as the Wards reinforced each other. The only sign from Harry that he had done anything was the fact that he was breathing slightly heavier than normal.

Dumbledore tentatively raised his wand as he performed several diagnostic charms on the Wards.

"Remarkable, absolutely astonishing. Harry, not only have you tied the Wards together perfectly, you have also managed to quadruple their strength."

Dumbledore slowly climbed off of the rock, still trying to comprehend how a six year old boy, who shouldn't even be able to perform accidental magic, could perform it wandlessly and non-verbally. Not only that but Harry already appeared to be far more powerful than himself.

Harry jumped down and immediately went over to Ginny. Taking hold of her hand, they headed towards The Burrow with Dumbledore following, still shaking his head and muttering to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

"Will you two hurry up!" Shouted Molly from the bottom of the stairs. It was the tenth of August, 1986. The day before Ginny's fifth birthday. As usual in the Weasley household, everything had been left to the last minute.

It had been decided the day before that Molly, along with Harry and Ginny, would venture into Diagon Ally in order to get the things that were going to be needed for Ginny's party.

The party had been a last minute decision. Originally the plan had been to take the family to Paignton Zoo, which was nearby, on the south Devon coast. But the risk of the international statute of secrecy being broken was too great. Especially when the twins had threatened to put Ron in the gorilla enclosure.

Because of the new Wards though, it would only be the immediate family that would be attending. That suited Molly just fine, cooking every day for ten people was no mean feat in itself. Especially when Galleons were so tight. Molly shuddered to think how they would cope if they didn't grow a lot of their own food.

Because it was only a fifth birthday Molly didn't have to do too much planning. But because it was for her only daughter, she still wanted to make it special.

Food was going to be the main part of the party, as it was with every party that Molly organised. Ginny was fairly easy going when it came to eating. She didn't really have any favourites, some kind of chocolate cake for desert was a given though.

As for the main birthday cake, that too would be chocolate. But it would need to be decorated. Marzipan and icing would do for the topping. Arthur could be relied upon to create something wonderful using magic as an actual cake topping.

Eventually Harry and Ginny appeared at the bottom of the Burrow's worn wooden staircase. Giggling at each other as they entered the kitchen.

"What have I told you two about doing that? You are going to have to get used to talking out loud, just like the rest of us have to. If strangers see you laughing and giggling for no apparent reason, they will get suspicious, understand?" Molly said, with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Yes Molly". "Yes Mummy". They replied in unison, although the grins were still on their faces.

"You two will be the death of me, it's a wonder I haven't gone completely grey yet!" Huffed Molly, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Now pay attention, you two haven't travelled by floo before as far as I know. So this is what we'll do. You will both have to grab hold of my cloak; hold on tight mind, or you could end up anywhere. It's a bit risky doing it this way, but I can't see any alternative."

Harry glanced over at Ginny.

_You go with your mum, find somewhere quiet, and I'll push my self to you._

_Great idea Harry!_

"Mummy, we have a little secret to tell you."

"Another one! Go on then, tell me."

"Well, you remember how I was pulled by Harry to his relative's house?"

Molly narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Yes", she replied, suspecting what she was about to be told.

"Well, Harry and me have been able to do it since then. I can pull Harry to me, and he can pull me to him."

"Your father and I will have to talk to you two about this later. But I fail to see what this has to do with travelling through the floo."

It was Harry who spoke up next. "We thought it would be easier if you took Ginny with you. Then when you get there, Ginny could pull me to her. I'll only be on my own for a few seconds wouldn't I?"

Molly thought for a moment. "Ok, I must admit it's a good idea. We'll have to be careful though, we don't want anyone seeing Harry popping out of thin air."

Molly held her hand out to Ginny, who reached up and grabbed it tightly. With her free hand, Molly scooped up some of the floo powder from its pot on the mantle. Pulling Ginny along with her, she stepped into the fireplace. In a loud clear voice, she called out.

"The Leaky Cauldron!"

With that she threw the powder into the grate. With a roar of green flames, Harry watched as they were quickly sucked up the chimney.

Harry tried to follow their path through the floo system, but unfortunately Ginny had her eyes screwed tightly shut. When she eventually opened them, Harry could make out what appeared to be the inside of some kind of pub or tavern. Opposite the fireplace that they had obviously arrived in, was a long bar. Although the place was clearly very old, it was well kept and extremely popular.

Witches and wizards of all ages were either lined up at the bar, or sat around large circular tables that filled most of the available space in the room.

To the right of the fireplace was a single staircase led to the upper levels. There were two large ornate doors at either end of the of the bar area. Molly and Ginny brushed the soot from their cloaks, and headed towards the door to their right.

Before they reached the door though, Molly steered Ginny to a pair of doors at the end of the bar. As they approached, Harry could make out the words 'Witches' and 'Wizards' carved neatly above each door. Pushing Ginny through the 'Witches' door, Molly checked to make sure that they were alone in what was obviously a ladies public toilet.

Turning to her daughter, Molly bent down to whisper in her ear. "Ok Harry the coast is clear."

Ginny reached out with her magic until it connected with Harry's. Looking around for a safe place to 'pull' him to, she spotted a toilet in one of the stalls. Giggling to herself she used her magic to bring Harry to her.

With a resounding splash, Harry appeared. Both of his feet in the bowl of the toilet.

"Ginny!"

"_Ginny!"_

Molly tried, but failed, to hide the smirk on her face as she watched Harry climb awkwardly out of the bowl. He tried to act as nonchalant as possible as he walked towards them. But the squelching sound of wet feet on the wooden floor ruined that for him.

With a flick of her wand, Molly quickly dried his feet for him before turning to Ginny.

"Consider yourself very lucky young lady that the witch who used that toilet last knew the banishing charm properly. Otherwise Harry would have been knee deep in sh…. trouble. And so would you!"

Meanwhile Harry just glared at Ginny. They both knew he wasn't being serious, as he could feel the mirth rolling off of Ginny, and found it very infectious. So much so that he soon started giggling, followed closely by Ginny.

"Oh do come on you two, we haven't got all day."

Molly pushed the door open slightly to make sure that they would be able to leave the room unobserved. Seeing the way was clear she quickly pulled the still giggling children out after her and headed to the exit nearest them.

The door led to a small walled in area, but before Harry had a chance to have a look around, Molly walked straight up to the wall in front of them. Withdrawing her wand, she tapped what appeared to be random bricks. Harry could 'feel' the magic in the wall react with Molly's magic, and watched in awe as the bricks slowly rearranged themselves to form an archway.

Without hesitating, Molly grabbed hold of the two children's hands, and walked through the arch.

A few hundred miles away to the north, Albus Dumbledore was sitting quietly behind his ornate desk in the Head Masters office of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The only movement in the office was the lazy passing of dust particles, shining brightly like miniature stars as they were caught in the sunlight that was streaming through the heavily leaded windows.

Even the many portraits that were hung on the walls of the office were motionless, the majority of the occupants visiting other portraits. Leaving only the backdrop visible. Which in most cases was the same office that they were hung in.. In the portraits that were occupied, the persons shown were genuinely asleep.

The dull monotonous ticking of an ancient Grandfather clock was the only sound that broke the absolute silence.

Dumbledore had been sat in the same position for over three hours, the paperwork on his desk forgotten. The ink in his Eagle feather quill had long dried out. The tea in his fine china cup was stone cold.

He was attempting to make sense of what he had observed of a certain Harry Potter. 'How had that wartime Muggle leader put it?' He is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key.

But who possessed the key? Was it Harry himself? Was it Molly, or Arthur? Or even young Ginny? Harry was powerful, of that he was certain, more powerful than any Wizard alive, including himself.

The brief display of raw power he had seen when Harry had altered the very magic of the Burrows Wards, was quite frankly, scary. Add into that the fact that he had been able to do it wandlessly and instinctively beggared belief.

Harry Potter would have to be guided very carefully, of that he was sure. It would appear that fate had stepped in just in time when Harry had been rescued from his relatives. The accidental magic that he would have been capable of made the old man shudder.

Dumbledore resumed the stroking of his long white beard as his mind turned to what else he had discovered when he had visited the burrow that day. The fact that there was an unregistered Animagus currently residing at the Burrow.

As soon as Dumbledore had seen the rat, he had recognised the magic involved in the animagus transformation. His first instinct had been to reveal whomever the wizard or witch was there and then. But he hardly ever acted on first instincts.

Many years of experience had taught him that doing nothing was sometimes more favourable than acting rashly. He had no idea if whoever it was had good or bad intentions. Judging by the familiarity that young Percival had handled the animal, it had been his 'pet' for quite a while. This indicated two things to Dumbledore.

Firstly, Harry and the Weasley's were not in any immediate danger. If the witch or wizard was dangerous, they surely would have acted by now.

Secondly, and more importantly, whomever it was, felt safe at the Burrow.

This would allow Dumbledore to quietly observe them whenever he was visiting; and Dumbledore planned to visit quite a bit over the summer.

The last subject on the venerable Headmasters mind was one Ginevra Molly Weasley. What exactly was her link to Harry? As far as he knew, boys didn't even know girls existed until they reached the age of thirteen or fourteen. But Harry had struck up a close and firm friendship with Molly's youngest.

Had it have been Ronald or even the twins, Dumbledore doubted he would have noticed, or if he had, he wouldn't have thought anything of it.

That was something else that he knew he was going to have to keep a close eye on.

Returning his attention back to rolls of parchment on his desk, he picked up the next one off of the pile. Sighing deeply, he waved his hand over the cold cup of tea, refreshing it immediately.

Finding good Defence Against the Darks Arts Professors was becoming a real chore.

Harry knew that seeing Diagon Alley for the first time with his own eyes was going to be something special. But no matter how many times he had seen it through Ginny's eyes, nothing had quite prepared him for the assault on his senses.

As soon as Harry had stepped through the brick archway, he stopped dead in his tracks. Molly and Ginny turned to look at him in order to find out why he had stopped so suddenly.

Harry ignored them as he tried to take in everything he was seeing.

Ginny could feel his wonder and awe through their connection. Turning to her mother, she signalled for her to give Harry a couple of minutes.

Harry's eyes were drawn from one wonderful sight to another. Directly in front of him, leading slightly uphill, was a well worn cobbled alley. But what an alley!

Shops lined both sides of the alley for at least six or seven hundred yards, where the alley finished at the steps of a large, white, imposing building.

The shops themselves came in all different shapes and sizes. The majority where two stories high, but a couple, near the end of the alley, far in the distance, had an extra story or two.

The colours were remarkable, reds, greens, blues, yellows and even a couple painted in bright pink.

Signs of every conceivable shape were hung above the various shops doorways.

But the shops paled into insignificance when Harry turned his attention to the throngs of Witches and Wizards.

They too seemed to come in all different shapes and sizes. Tall, short, fat, thin, young, old. Each of them seemed to be in competition with the others as to whom could wear the most outrageous clothes.

Robes of every colour, and every combination of colours were on display. Some were decorated with silver stars. Others had multi-coloured rainbows. Harry could have sworn he saw one with golden winged balls that actually flew around the robe as the wearer walked.

Pointed hats seemed to be the fashion as well. These seemed to be a little more uniform, the majority were plain black with a wide brim running around the bottom of it. Some of the owners of these hats had decorated theirs with ribbons or bows. But these were few and far between.

Turning to Molly, Harry asked her what he thought was a most important question.

"Do you have a hat?"

Molly smiled down at him. Reached into her large handbag, and pulled out her own pointed Witches hat.

"Of course I do Harry, but I stopped wearing mine through the floo. I lost to many that way."

"Will Ginny and me get to wear one?"

"Oh yes, but not until you're a bit older. It's customary for the young Witch or Wizard to get their fist hat just before the attend Hogwarts. As we go up the alley, you'll see plenty of kids your age without them."

Molly had to suppress a chuckle at the look of pure delight on Harry's face as they made their way down the centre of the alley. With wide eyes, he seemed to be unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a few seconds.

Eventually Ginny spoke up. "Where are we going first mummy?"

"Gringotts. I need to take some money out before we go shopping." Then, more for her own benefit than the two children that accompanied her, she added under her breath; "I hope there's enough left for today."

After a fifteen minute walk, they approached the steps of the building Harry had seen when they had first entered the alley.

Before they mounted the first step, Molly knelt down in front of Harry and Ginny. "Now don't be surprised when we enter the Bank. But the people who run it may seem a little strange to you. You see, they are not human, they are Goblins. Just keep close to me, and don't say anything unless they speak to you. Understand?"

Harry and Ginny nodded silently as the trio mounted the first of the white marble steps.

Far away, on the unplotable island of Avalon, a lone Goblin was working in one of the many halls of the Goblin nation's capital building. The Goblin, named Ricnak, was of lowly birth. Not destined for much more than he was currently doing, which was sweeping the opulently decorated floor. Of course he dreamed of handling the magical worlds finances, as so many of his peers had gone on to do.

But his family had little or no standing in his world. He cursed his luck as he swept the already clean golden floor tiles. The hall he was currently in was one of the major passage-ways in this part of the building. Linking the various countries Muggle relations offices with all of the worlds major Banks. Ricnak knew little of what went on in these offices, except for the fact that the Goblins had taken major steps in investing in Muggle businesses.

On one side of the hall were high arched windows looking out over the Goblin Capital, Garokenal. On the other, were the doors of the offices. Goblins came and went all day long, none of them even acknowledging that they had noticed the presence of Ricnak amongst them.

Eventually Ricnak reached a long stretch of door-less wall. Portraits of prestigious Goblin financiers were hung along this part of the hall, as they were all the way along the passageway. They would often shout out in gobbledygook (the Goblin language) words of advice and encouragement. The majority of this advice went unheeded, as it was woefully out of date. For example, one ancient looking Goblin depicted in a dusty old office, surrounded by rolls and rolls of parchment, insisted that everyone who passed his portrait should invest in the 'new' Muggle technology of steam trains.

As far as Ricnak knew, all of the Goblins depicted in the portraits tended to remain within them. All but one that is. One of the portraits was always empty. A good deal larger than its surrounding neighbours, it was obviously intended for a very important Goblin. The solid gold frame was evidence of that.

As Ricnak approached the area with the large golden framed portrait, he began to notice that something was not quite as it should be. Resting on the broom handle, he looked around trying to pinpoint what was different today. Eventually his gaze rested on the portraits around him, all were quiet and unusually still. So still in fact, that he thought that they might resemble Muggle photographs that he had heard about.

As Ricnak studied the portraits around him, he noticed that the occupants were all facing the same way, they were all looking at the normally empty large golden framed portrait. Shifting his own gaze towards it, what he saw made him almost drop the broom he was holding.

Depicted in it, was not the very important Goblin he had always imagined, but an old human man. A very old human man. Dressed in the finest of Elfin silken robes, the old man was sat on the large winged back leather chair that was normally the only occupant of the portrait. His long pure white beard flowed neatly down his robes, pooling in his lap. The only other hair that Ricknac could see was also pure white, and was mainly hidden by a plain sky-blue Wizards hat. The most striking feature by far though was the old mans eyes. Where as his face clearly showed the ravages of time, the old mans eyes still had a youthful quality. Bright and sparkling, they shone like two stars out of the canvas; so green, that Ricknac was sure that the original painter had made a mistake.

Ricnak wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the portrait, but he was pulled out of his revere when the old human in the portrait spoke in perfect Gobbledygook.

"Tell me my good Goblin, what year is this?"

"Year?" Replied Ricnak, Stupidly.

"Yes, I would like to know what year this is. That is if you wouldn't mind telling me." The old man smiled patiently at the young Goblin. As if used to people acting in a similar fashion in his presence.

Gathering his wits, Ricnak stared suspiciously at the elderly human portrait. "It is the seventh quarter of the age of the Dragon."

The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Nineteen hundred and eighty six, I never imagined it would take so long." He said softly, as if talking to himself. Leaning forward in his chair, his voice changed to an urgent tone. "Young Goblin, I must impose upon you to do me a great favour. I must speak with the King of the Goblins immediately. Will you fetch him as quickly as you can?"

Ricnac stared at the portrait for a few seconds before throwing his head back and letting out a guttural laugh.

"You give me more credit than my lowly position deserves my painted friend. Do you honestly think that I would be able to get within fifty feet of the King? His guards would throw me in the deepest dungeon they could find."

Ricnak turned to walk away from the troublesome human portrait. But was stopped in his tracks when the old man spoke again.

"Myrddin Emrys"

Ricknac turned slowly back towards the portrait. "What did you say?"

The old mans eyes were twinkling with merriment at the shocked look on the young Goblins face.

"Myrddin Emrys. Am I to assume that you are familiar with that name? Others have called me Myrddin Wyllt. To most however, I am simply known as Merlin."

Ricnak's broom slipped from his fingers and clattered on the golden floor tiles as he knelt in front of the portrait. His head bowed low. "Forgive me sire, I did not know. I will attempt to do what you ask of me, but I fear I will not be successful"

The gleam in the old portraits eyes dimmed as he studied the young Goblin. "It is imperative that you bring the King to me as quickly as possible. In order to help you do so, I will reveal to you a long forgotten passageway that was intended to allow Kings of old to escape during times of trouble. This passageway will lead you directly to the Kings private quarters."

Ricnak's head snapped up at this information. "Where is the opening to this passageway?"

"Is the well still in the central courtyard?"

"The well of wealth? Yes it's there."

"Stand on the south side of the well and simply say 'open'. A flagstone will slide out of the way revealing a staircase. Follow the staircase down into a passageway. This passage way will lead to the chambers, when you get there, say 'open' again. A portion of wall will move allowing you access. Be warned though. Both times you say 'open', you must say it in the human language of Welsh. The translation is 'agor'."

After trying the pronunciation a few times, Merlin was finally satisfied that Ricnak would be able to reach his destination successfully.

Watching the young Goblin scurry away, Merlin settled down for what he hoped would be not to long a wait.

After about twenty minuets, Ricnak returned. With him, flanked either side by two of the largest Goblins ever seen, was the King of the Goblins. Dressed in golden silk robes, with soft leather red boots, the elderly Monarch held a solid gold staff that had jewels inlaid all the way down it. At the top of the staff a diamond, the size of a mans fist, was set.

The two guards were eyeing Ricnak with obvious suspicion, he knew that if he made one wrong move, they would not need much of an excuse to tear him limb from limb.

As they approached the portrait, Ricnak prayed fervently to any Gods that may be listening, that it was still occupied. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw the old human who claimed to be Merlin, the greatest Wizard to have ever lived, was still there.

The King motioned for his guards to stop as he approached the portrait. Ricknak decided that his presence would not be needed, so he to stopped with guards.

Looking up at the elderly human depicted in the huge portrait, the king spoke.

"My name is King Gerzond. You claim to be the portrait of the Human conjurer, Merlin. Is this correct?"

Merlins eyes were glowing with mirth at the way the Goblin in front of him had addressed him. "Yes, I am Merlin. I am in need of your assistance King Gerzond, if you are willing to give it."

The king's features twisted into a sneer. "Why should the King of the Goblins help a simple portrait? A portrait of a human no less!"

Merlin folded his hands into his lap as he looked at the King. "Have the books of the Goblin race not been kept up to date? Do they not contain the history of you ancient and noble race? Do they not tell of the assistance I gave the Goblins during your war with the Giants?"

The king's sneer turned to a snarl. "That is ancient history. The Goblins have changed much over the years. Even if you were alive, we would owe you nothing now. I would suggest you find yourself a new home. This portrait will not be here tomorrow!"

The King heard the gasp of surprise from Ricknak. He knew that what he had said was wrong. The Goblins did owe a huge debt to Merlin, but he didn't want to appear to be weak. He had been King for a long time now, over fifty human years, and enjoyed the feeling of absolute power he held over his subjects.

Having Merlin, even in portrait form, show up now, was to much of a reminder that the Goblins were not the all powerful race they thought they were. The carefully laid plans of the King depended on the Goblins thinking that they were superior to the Humans. They had almost total control of the Humans finances, it would not be long until they had complete control. Once that was the case, they could start demanding more and more.

No, having Merlin show up now was not what the King wanted at all.

Merlin stood and appeared to walk towards the edge of the portrait that contained him. "Don't worry about me my good King. I have plenty of homes. You would be surprised at the number of portraits that are willing to house me. Take for instance the large one in your private office, above your fireplace. The one that depicts your Father, the last King. I have often visited that one. He is always willing to allow me to visit. He doesn't even mind if I listen in on your most private of conversations either. The chair that he is sitting in allows me to go quite unnoticed if I sit behind it."

Merlin's voice dropped to a whisper, "you should know that he is very disappointed in you Gerzond"

The Goblin Kings face was now contorted with rage. "Guards! Destroy that portrait now!"

Rushing to do their Kings bidding, the two large (for Goblins) guards raised their sabres and moved towards the huge Portrait.

Before they could reach it however, Merlin stepped through his and into the next portrait; the owner of which simply smiled, bowed, turned and left.

The guards, unsure of what to do, stopped where they were and waited for further orders.

Merlin, his eyes still twinkling, addressed the king once more. "I had hoped that you would have been more agreeable to help me than this. The only way you could ever get rid of me would be to destroy every magical portrait. A feat that I think even you would struggle to accomplish."

With that Merlin turned once again, and entered his own portrait. Putting out his right hand, he seemed to be reaching out towards the King. Gerzond stood transfixed as he saw the ancient canvas of the portrait stretch where Merlin's hand seemed to be touching it.

Slowly, a painted hand pushed its way out. Followed by the rest of the arm. When it hands reached the shoulder, the painting of Merlin seemed to pause. Then, leaning his head forward, a face started to push it's way out of the portrait. Eventually what once had been Merlin's two dimensional upper torso had pushed its way out of the painting.

With one last great effort, the painted Merlin stepped out of the portrait. Looking down at himself, Merlin seemed pleased with what he had accomplished.

The two Goblin guards immediately rushed in front of their King, Sabres pointed menacingly at the person who had apparently just walked out of a painting.

Merlin raised his hand in the universal gesture of peace. "My dear Goblins", he said, addressing the two guards. "I mean neither you or your King harm."

The two Guards lowered their Sabres slightly, though they still eyed the painted Merlin warily.

Gerzond cleared his throat as he pushed his way between his guards, though Merlin noticed that he didn't move to far in front of them.

"Impossible! This is impossible! Painting can't come to life…"

"I have not 'come to life', as you put it. I am still an ordinary, if there is such a thing, magical portrait. While I was alive however, this portrait," at this point Merlin waved his hand at the now empty frame, "was done of me. With the artist's permission, I added a few of my own rather unique magical touches."

At this point Merlin smiled fondly, as if remembering. "I seem to recall wondering why if wizards and witches could make inanimate objects move, they why could not the same magic be used on the canvas and paint of a portrait?"

Merlin seemed oblivious to the combined stares of the four Goblins around him as he carried on speaking.

"There was the small problem to overcome, of course. Concerning the fact that when Magical folk make objects move, they do so with their own magic. I, however no longer am in possession of a magical core. After all, I am still just a painting."

Ricnak spoke without thinking, so far he had been happy to have been overlooked. Wondering if anyone would notice if he retrieved his broom and quietly slipped off.

"How did you manage it then?"

Four pairs of eyes turn towards the young Goblin. Three of which were hard and suspicious, one pair kind and patient.

"Simply by adjusting the magic within the canvas that allows the painting to move and talk long after the artist has passed away."

"Why have you done this now? What is it you need of me?"

The King was feeling bolder now that he had been reminded that portraits did not have a magical core. After all, Merlin's prowess with magic was legendary.

Merlin smiled gently at Garzond. "I have been informed that my….heir has returned. He is, at this present moment in time in the magical banking establishment of Gringots in Diagon Alley. A banking establishment run by your subjects.

"Yes, yes. I'm well aware of what Gringotts is, get on with it, what do you want?" The King asked, impatient to get rid Merlin's three dimensional portrait.

"It is to late for me to do anything regarding my heir today. But I surmise that if he has visited Gringott's once, he will do so again. I would like therefore for you to arrange to have my frame, with me in it, to be moved temporarily to the manager's office in Gringotts. In addition to this, I would like for you to instruct the manager to do as I ask regarding my heir."

"Is that all?" The King asked incredulously. "I would be glad to get…to do as you ask."

"That is not quite it, I will require the services of a Goblin. There will be items that I will wish purchased. Errands that will need to be run for me, that sort of thing. Although I could do those things in this form, for the moment I wish to remain anonymous."

"Fine, fine. I will make sure that some one will be at your disposal." Said the King dismissively.

"What about him? So far he has proven to be reliable." With that Merlin looked directly at Ricnak.

"My young Goblin, would you be willing to travel to London and look after my and my heirs affairs?"

Ricnak looked from Merlin to the King and then back to Merlin again. "But I'm just a cleaner sire, I know nothing of wizarding affairs. I've never even left this city, let alone Avalon."

Merlin walked over to the young Goblin and knelt down in front of him.

"I do not yet believe that I know your name my young friend."

Ricnak looked in awe at the representation of Merlin. "Ricnak, my name is Ricnak sire."

"Well Ricnak, would you like to have a little bit of an adventure? Would you would like to see more of the world? Would you like to manage my affairs? If you answer yes to all of these questions, I would be very grateful."

Looking around him once more, Merlin lent further towards Ricnak, and whispered conspirtoraly.

"I dare say the life I can offer will be a tad more exciting than sweeping floors, no matter how ornately decorated they are."

Ricnak looked over to where his broom lay on the golden floor tiles. Slowly he looked back at Merlin. "Ok, I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Cried Merlin, standing up straight. "We shall depart immediately, though I dare say my method of transport will be far quicker than yours my young friend."

With than Merlin strode purposefully over to where his empty frame was. Without breaking stride, he appeared to step straight into the wall. Where there had been moments before a blank wall surrounded by an ornate golden frame, now contained a portrait of Merlin who appeared to be walking towards an old wing-backed dark leather chair.

The four Goblins watched as Merlin turned towards them. "Ricnak" said Merlin, completely ignoring the other three. "Get your affairs in order, and leave for London as soon as is practicable. I will arrange lodging for you with the help of Gringott's manager. Do not be afraid now, I will make sure he is expecting you. Just tell one of the Goblins working there your name and you will be shown to his office."

With a cheerfull smile and a wink at Ricnak. Merlin turned right and walked out of the portrait.

Not used to being ignored by anybody, let alone a painting, King Gerzond turned to Ricnak.

"Just keep that meddling old Human away from Avalon. Understand?"

Without waiting for a reply, the King turned back the way he had come. The last thing Ricnak heard was the order to cave in the well tunnel.

At a loss as what to do next, Ricnak retrieved his broom. Speaking to no one in particular, the young Goblin said; "I suppose I'd better go and get packed then."

"Yes you had, it doesn't do to keep one of the major banks managers waiting."

Turning to the portrait that had spoken, Ricnak huffed, put his broom over his shoulder and started the long walk to the outskirts of the city to where he lived.

**A/N: I would like to say that I am so sorry for the lengthy delay in posting this chapter. For those who have sent me messages asking if I had abandond the story, fear not, as I will never abandon it. I have read far to many stories that have been, and it is very annoying.**

**If you feel that I'm leaving to long a gap between posting, please feel free to send me harshly worded messages ****J**** I'm well aware that I need reminding that I have a story to finish from time to time.**


	10. Chapter 10

10th August 1986

Poppy Pomfrey was currently seated in her office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Normally she took great pride in cleanliness of her work space. A place for everything and everything in its place was one of her many mottos. Although not large compared to the headmasters office, it was still roomy enough to accommodate a good two dozen large filling cabinets. All of which were lined along the rear wall. Opposite these was the wall that divided her office from the main ward.

This was the wall that her desk was pushed against, just in front of a large single paned window that allowed her an unrestricted view of the ward. On either side of her desk were some of her most valuable possessions; her books.

The majority of these she had inherited when she had become the schools Healer, almost forty years ago. During that time she had added to the impressive collection, every time a new medical book was published, it found its way to her.

It helped a great deal that she had managed to save the leg of the son of one of the owners of the magical bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. Alexander Flourish had been at Hogwarts eighteen years ago, when he had been involved in a nasty accident during a care of magical creatures lesson. The Blast-ended Skrewt he had been working with had 'gone off' whilst Alexander had been standing behind it.

It had been touch and go, but she had managed to heal his leg enough that it wouldn't have to be amputated. Ever since then, any newly published book that was even remotely medically related, arrived on her desk.

At one end of the room were her medical supplies, arranged on shelves in alphabetical order. The majority of which were potions, kept in strangely shaped bottles or vials. Underneath the shelves were her supplies of bandages, slings, splints, spare bed linen, crutches and the other one hundred and one things she needed in her busy ward. Her fireplace sat nestled in-between these shelves, with a small pot of floo powder hanging from a small bracket.

The majority of the larger items, splints, crutches, stretchers etc, were kept in a shrunken state until needed. During term time, they were often needed on a regular basis.

The wall on the other end of the office wasn't really a wall at all, more of a large curtain that stretched from wall to wall. On the other side of the curtain were her private quarters. Not much to look at, just a bed and a couple of wardrobes. A door led from here to a simple yet functional bathroom.

The filing cabinets contained files relating to every pupil that currently attended Hogwarts, as well as all of the staff. These files were magical duplicated in St. Mungo's main archive. Just in case a pupil had an serious accident or caught something during the school holidays. Likewise, if anything was added to a students file there, it would be duplicated automatically in Madam Pomfrey's files.

At the moment though, over half of the filing cabinets where open. Files and sheets of parchment were scattered over every available flat surface, including the floor.

Books of all shapes and sizes were amongst them, so many in fact that the shelves on which they belonged looked almost empty. The majority of them where open at a particular page or chapter; some had students files acting as markers.

On Madam Pomfrey's desk, amongst random files and yet more books, were sheets of parchment. All had rough notes written hastily with her large orange Griffin feather quill.

Madam Pomfrey was seated in the stiff backed dark wooden chair, her head in her hands, staring unseeingly at one of the parchments in front of her. Strands of hair that had come loose from the normally tight bun clung to her sweaty brow.

This was how Minerva Mcgonagall found her friend. She had become concerned for Poppy's well being after she had missed supper that evening, and had decided to go look for her. Although not unusual during term time for Madam Pomfrey to eat her meals in her office, it was almost unheard of during the school holidays.

Taking in the state of the office before her, the elderly Transfiguration teacher shook her head sadly, pulled out her wand from her sleeve, and cleared a small space on the floor next to Madam Pomfrey's chair.

With a small flick of her wand she conjured a chair similar to the one that Poppy was sat on. Sitting next to her friend, she gently placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Without looking up from the parchment on her desk, Poppy sighed heavily.

"Nothing…nothing in my books, nothing in the files, nothing at all."

Poppy let her hands fall heavily onto the desk in front of her. Looking at Minerva, she smiled wistfully.

"I'm beaten Minerva, I have tried everything I can think of, there is nothing here, nothing in the schools library, nothing even in the restricted section".

Looking around her, Poppy seemed to be seeing the mess that was her office for the first time. Drawing her own wand, she pointed it at the nearest pile of books. Feeling a hand close around hers, she looked up again at Minerva.

"Let me help you Poppy. You look exhausted".

With a nod of her head, Poppy gratefully accepted her friends offer.

Aiming her wand at the books once more, she started magically arranging them on the shelves. Minerva started on the files, flicking her wand at any lose parchments, making sure that all were once again filed correctly before being put back into the filing cabinets.

Looking at the parchment strewn desk Minerva simply raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"You may as well dispose of it all Minerva, I wouldn't want these to fall into the wrong hands. Not that I found anything remotely useful anyway."

Minerva levitated the Pile of parchments over the now clear floor, and with a further flick of her wand, engulfed the lot in flames.

Ash drifted down towards the highly polished floorboards, disappearing before it made contact with them.

Satisfied that the office once again was as neat and tidy as it always was, Minerva turned towards her friend.

"Would you allow me to get you a cup of tea? And maybe something to eat?"

Poppy nodded, "Yes….yes please Minerva, I've been at this all day. I ashamed to admit that I got so caught up I missed breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't think I've had anything to drink since last night either."

Had a student seen the expression on the stern deputy headmistresses face, they would have thought that at best that the schools healer was about to get a years worth of detentions, or at worst immediate expulsion.

But Poppy simply chuckled, "don't pull that face at me Minerva, I'm not one of your students. You know me well enough to know what I'm like when I get a Snitch in my bonnet."

"Be that as it may Poppy, you need to take better care of yourself".

Turning her head slightly Minerva called out. "Turpick"

Almost immediately a small house elf appeared. Dressed in a white shawl with the Hogwarts crest embroidered on the front, the elf bowed low to the pair of witches in front of him.

"How may Turpick be of service madam's?"

"Is their any of that wonderful soup left over from dinner?"

Turpick nodded eagerly.

"A bowl of that please, with a few bread rolls, and two cups of Earl Grey tea. With a few digestive biscuits if you would be so kind."

Turpick bowed once more, and then disappeared with a click of his long bony fingers.

After barely two minutes had gone by, he reappeared carrying a tray laden with two bowl of soup, three packets of biscuits, half a dozen bread rolls and a saucer full of butter, as well as cutlery, napkins, two pots of tea and a small jug of milk.

"Thank you for being so quick Turpick, you may place the tray on the desk. We will call for you should we require anything further. For now though, we wish to be left alone. Please instruct the other elves not to disturb us."

Bowing first to the deputy headmistress, as it was she who had spoken to him, he snapped his fingers once more and disappeared.

After Poppy had eaten her fill, she turned to Minerva, who had been waiting patiently for her friend to finish.

"I am starting to think that what has happened to those two young children may be unique. I've been trying to find anything that is even remotely similar, but without any success."

"I assume that you are referring to the two young children that you met a few days ago?" Asked Minerva.

"Yes." Poppy said with a sigh.

Looking around her office her eyes finally rested on Minerva's. "I don't think it would be wise to mention their names though."

Minerva smiled at her friend, "You know what they say about great minds thinking alike? Well I was just thinking the same thing."

Poppy smiled back at Minerva, then glanced at the clock on her wall.

"It's still quite early, how would you like a walk around the grounds?"

Minerva rose from her seat, and with a flick of her wand banished it.

"That is a splendid idea Poppy! I for one could use a breath of fresh air, and after being cooped up in here all day, I dare say you could as well."

They made their way out of the castle by way of the main entrance, and out onto the grounds.

The sun was quite low on the horizon, but they had an hour or so before it was going to get dark.

Linking arms, the two women made their way in the general direction of the Quiditch pitch. "That's a little better, I don't know how he does it, but Albus seems to know everything that goes on in that castle."

Poppy simply nodded in response. "I suspect the portraits Minerva, the castle is full of them, after all."

After a few minutes of companionable silence, Minerva stopped and turned to her friend.

"You said at the Weasley's that Harry and Ginevra's souls were identical. How is that possible? Do you have any idea?"

Poppy lowered herself down onto the sun warmed grass, followed shortly after by Minerva. She allowed the heat of the setting sun to warm her face before answering.

"I've been studying healing for over fifty years Minerva. I thought I had seen everything in that time, little did I know how wrong I was. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like those two children before. Imagine it! Identical souls!"

Minerva couldn't help but smile at her friends enthusiasm. "I take it that the records at St. Mungo's wouldn't contain records of such a thing happening before?"

Poppy shook her head, "believe me, if anything like this had happened before I would have heard of it".

Mcgonagall frowned, "why then were you searching your records might I ask?"

Poppy sighed, "I don't know, I thought there may have been something I had missed. Obviously I was mistaken."

Poppy and Minerva sat together and watched as the sun sank slowly over the Highland Mountains. Minerva stood first, then offered a hand to Poppy, who accepted it gratefully.

"I can see that we are going to have to keep a close eye on those two children, who knows what they will be capable of. Already they have access to each others senses and memories. As the soul contains the magical core, they will probably be able to share that as well. Who knows what that could mean."

Minerva stopped dead in her tracks. "Poppy, you don't think that they would be able to share other things as well do you?

"What other things?"

"Well, if they are sharing senses, would they be able to feel the others pain if one of them got hurt? And what about brain power, would they be twice as intelligent as other children their age?"

Poppy looked thoughtful for a few moments before she answered her friend. "Yes, I do believe that they can feel each others pain." Then with a chuckle added, "I don't envy young Harry when Ginevra reaches puberty. How many of your first or second year boys would know how to deal with what all young ladies have to deal with during a certain time of month?"

With this Minerva covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh. "Merlin, I hadn't even considered that"

"As for the other point that you raised, I doubt very much if they would have double the intelligence of others. They will however be able to use each others memories. So if one of them knows the answer to a question, they both will. This in its self will cause problems." Ignoring Minerva's raised eyebrow, Poppy continued. "I believe that Ginevra is a year younger than Harry?"

Minerva thought for a few seconds. "You are correct, Ginevra was born in nineteen eighty one. Harry was born a year earlier….."

Minerva trailed off as what Poppy was suggesting sunk in.

"That's right Minerva, Ginevra will be in a year below Harry. Imagine how bored she will be. With this bond of theirs, she will already have learnt everything Harry has during his first year."

Minerva pondered on what Poppy had told her, not being able to find a suitable answer to that particular problem, she decided to change the subject slightly.

"Why did you leave so abruptly after you had examined the children the other day? You know Molly loves to have a chat and wouldn't have minded you staying for a while longer."

Poppy stopped and gazed up at the castle. Only Gryffindor and the astronomy towers were bathed in the last of the setting suns rays. "Because I didn't have any answers for her. You know how protective she is of her children, especially her youngest and only daughter. She would have wanted answers that I simply wouldn't have been able to provide."

Minerva nodded sympathetically. "Yes, even when she was here, once she got a snitch in her bonnet she refused to let go. Poor Arthur, he never really stood a chance."

With that the two Witches climbed the warn granite steps that lead to the courtyard that was in front of the main entrance. Bidding each other good night, they separated and made their way to their respective rooms.

11th August 1986

Harry Potter was sweating so much that his new glasses kept on slipping down his nose. He dare not move though in case he alerted the small rabbit that was only yards away. He and Ginny had been out in the garden since the sun had risen, just over five hours ago. At the moment they were very close to the tree line on the edge of the Weasley's property. He was wearing only a pair of Percy's old shorts, and the grass he was laying face down on was starting to irritate his bare chest and stomach.

Molly had applied the standard anti-burning charm before they had gone out, but that didn't stop him from getting hot. It was going to be worth it though, if he could catch the rabbit he and Ginny had been chasing all morning.

Today was Ginny's fifth birthday, and because she had always wanted a pet of her very own, Harry had said he would help her catch one. He was disappointed that he had nothing to give her, even though he had no money, or any way of getting a present even if he did. At least he thought he felt bad, for all he knew, it might have been Ginny feeling disappointed that Harry hadn't got her a present.

Harry shifted to Ginny's point of view, she was about twenty yards to his left, slightly in front of him. The grass in this area of the meadow was particularly long, and helped hide them from their target. They had been this close before, but the rabbit had managed to evade them all morning. They knew that if it managed to get into the trees, they would have no hope of ever catching it.

Slowly, noiselessly, Harry crept forward on his elbows, keeping as low to the ground as he could. Ginny was moving to, she knew what Harry was doing without even having to 'mind talk' with him. She knew that she would have to make her way around so that she would be in-between the rabbit and the trees. Carefully and deliberately she moved towards the tree line.

Thorfinn Rowle would not have described himself as a patient man, in fact he was anything but patient. He always preferred action rather than inaction. That was one of the reasons why he had been drawn to the Dark Lord when he had left Hogwarts. The last surviving heir of the House of Rowle, he had been encouraged by his Slytherin House mates to approach Lord Voldermort eight years ago, when the Dark Lord had been at the height of his power.

He had been promised power, wealth, and most importantly in his mind, a good pure blood wife that would bare him son that would carry on his line. He had certainly enjoyed the two years that he had been an active Death Eater, the fear he had caused in others was like a drug, totally addictive. Leading him to cause more and more atrocities, all in the name of blood purity. Then the unthinkable had happened, The Dark Lord had been defeated, not by an Auror or Unspeakable. Not even by Dumbledore, the leader of the Light. No, the Dark Lord had been beaten by a one year old child, a Half Blood no less.

He had escaped Azkaban by the narrowest of margins, going to ground for the first few weeks, and then fleeing abroad. He had returned to England when news had reached him of Potters whereabouts.

He had been watching the Burrow for the last two days from his vantage point in the woods. Being careful to remain hidden, he had gently tested the Wards that surrounded the property. His mild probing had told him that the Wards were not going to be brought down easily, if at all.

He had watched the family carefully, expecting a very long wait before having a chance to exact his revenge on the brat that had brought his world tumbling down around him.

Rowle couldn't believe his luck when, on the third morning of his vigil he saw his intended target approaching very near to where he was hidden. All Potter had to do was cross the Ward line and vengeance would be his. The other child, a little red headed girl was of no consequence. If she tried to interfere, it would be the last thing she ever did.

He waited in the shadows of the thickly growing trees for them to get a little closer, thirty more yards and they would be completely unprotected. Rowle could clearly see Potter now, the jet black hair, black round glasses, thin gaunt features and pale skin that stood out in sharp contrast to the long sun dried grass that he was laying in.

The two children were obviously concentrating on something, he followed their stares to a point about twenty feet in front of him, slightly to his left. A rabbit, sitting up on its hind legs, whilst lazily chewing on a dandelion leaf. So that's what they were doing, they were trying to catch the rabbit.

Rowle knew that no spell, hex, charm or curse could ever breech these Wards, so he would have to wait, and hope that fate was on his side.

The rabbit hopped slowly away from Rowle, keeping roughly parallel to the tree line. This was not what he had hoped for, as it was leading the two young children away from him. Desperately he searched for additional cover, closer to where the children were heading. Cursing his luck, all he could see were wide open spaces between the trees, with little or no undergrowth.

Desperation took over, silently he tapped himself on the head with his wand, Disillusioning himself. He knew that he would not be rendered completely invisible, the air around him would shimmer when he moved. But he was willing to take the risk, hoping that the two youngsters would be so engrossed with following the rabbit that they wouldn't notice him.

Darting from cover to cover, Rowle slowly followed the two children as they stalked the rabbit. Once, when there was little cover between the trees, he thought Potter had spotted him. After standing stock still for a few minutes, the boy's attention returned to the rabbit.

Harry, and through him, Ginny, was getting more excited. The rabbit hadn't spotted them yet, and was making it's way towards a steep bank where they should be able to corner it and catch it between them.

Slowly it hopped along the tree line, occasionally standing up on its rear legs to have a look around, all the time Harry and Ginny kept close enough to see it, but far enough away that it wouldn't be scared. Harry had thought he had spotted movement in the woods at one point, but after looking carefully, was unable to see anything.

Inevitably, or so it would seem, the rabbit started moving towards the thinly growing trees. They were still about twenty yards away from the bank, and the rabbit could easily escape if it took off. Harry and Ginny froze as one, all of their combined senses concentrated on the rabbit in front of them. It hopped up to the nearest tree, raising on its hind legs as it sniffed at the it. The two children decided that if they were going to have a chance of catching it, they would have to move now.

Harry sprang to his feet, and ran as fast as he could towards what he hoped was the soon to be pet. Ginny was right on his heels, willing him on. With five feet to go, Harry dived at the rabbit, he felt his hand close around one of its hind legs. With a vicious kick, the rabbit managed to free its self and darted into the woods. Harry cursed under his breath as he regained his feet and chased after Ginny and the rabbit.

Rowle waited until the rabbit had passed him before stepping out from behind the tree where he had been hiding. Cancelling the Disillusionment charm, he held out his wand as he watched the two children come to a stumbling halt.

Harry had immediately moved in front of Ginny when the stranger had suddenly appeared, attempting to shield her with his body. The stranger slowly, deliberately moved towards them. Never breaking eye contact with Harry.

_Move backwards, we need to get back to the wards. If you get a chance, run! _

Neither was sure who had spoken to whom. At that particular moment they didn't care. They just wanted to get away from the mean looking man.

Ginny took a step back.

"Make one more move and it will be your last!"

They froze in fear as the stranger got closer. When he was within twenty feet of them he stopped.

"Harry Potter", he sneered. "The great Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. The one who defeated the greatest wizard who had ever lived. The one who ruined all of our carefully laid plans. The brat son of a blood traitor and his mud-blood whore."

"Five years I've been on the run. Five fucking years! Digging through muggle rubbish bins to find food. I even had to flee the country; and all because of you."

Rowle spat on the ground in front of him, then wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his free hand.

"Time for a little payback me thinks. Have no doubt you little shit, your going to die today. Don't worry about your little friend though, she won't be harmed….. Yet. I've got some friends who will enjoy her company."

Rowle laughed manically as he looked past Harry at Ginny.

"I'm going to have fun with you first, it'll sort of make up for the suffering you've put me through."

With that he waved his wand around his head, putting a silencing charm up around them. After all, he couldn't have the boys screams attracting unwanted attention.

Rowle pointed his wand once again at Harry. "I'm going to enjoy this!"

"CRUCIO!" He roared, watching the bright red beam of magical energy streak its way towards Harry.

Harry and Ginny were more afraid than they could ever remember being. More afraid even than when Harry's uncle had locked him in the cupboard.

They listened to the man as he ranted, understanding little. They knew he meant to harm them, why though, they were unsure of.

Time seemed to slow for them as they watched the man cast the curse at Harry. They watched the beam of magical energy as it made it's way towards them. Instinctively, Harry raised his hand as if to shield them, his palm open and facing towards the man. Harry's other hand was wrapped around Ginny's back, pulling her into his back. Shielding her.

The beam was now within five feet of them. Four feet, Harry could feel his magic react to the threat. Three feet, his magic was travelling down his outstretched arm. Two feet, his magic had reached his hand. One foot, his magic surrounded his hand.

The beam from Rowle's wand hit Harry directly on his palm. Not knowing what to expect, he braced himself.

Harry could feel his magic combine with the strangers beam. Without knowing how he knew, he realised that the strangers magic was meant to hurt him. But he felt no pain, none at all.

His magic welcomed it, as if it recognised it as something similar to itself. His magic merged with the beam, drawing the raw energy towards Harry's magical core.

Harry felt energised, he eagerly accepted the new source of magical power as it mixed with his own.

Rowle was worried, very worried. He had expected the boy to be writhing on the ground in total agony by now. But instead he was still standing. The Cruciatus Curse was supposed to be unable to be defended against. So why was the boy still standing?

Then he felt it, the change in direction of his magic. When he had cast the curse, he had felt the magical energy flow along his arm and out of his wand, as it should be. But now that had changed, it was now being pulled at an alarming rate from him.

He could feel his core depleting, unable to recharge anywhere near fast enough to keep up with the flow that was leaving his body. He tried letting go of his wand, but all the time magic was flowing out of him, he was unable to.

"Stop!" he cried. "Please stop, please… please!"

His core was now using up his reserve. The reserve that normally would only be used to sustain a severely injured body.

All adult wizards knew what would happen if a wizard or witches core was fully drained, it was one of the things all the professors at Hogwarts taught. Once a core was completely drained, it would contain no magic with which it could recharge itself. Effectively they would be a squib for the rest of their lives. Never being able to perform any kind of magic ever again.

This was what was happening to Rowle. With a final shout of "NO!", he felt the last of his magical energy leave his body.

Harry and Ginny stared in disbelief as the man in front of collapsed to the ground. Harry slowly lowered his raised hand as Ginny stepped out from behind him. They stared at him for a full minute before Harry gingerly stepped forward. Slowly they approached the unconscious man.

When they were near enough, Harry bent down. Never taking his eyes off the man, he reached for the wand that had fallen from the mans grasp as he had fell. After feeling around on the ground, his fingers grasped the smooth wood of the wand.

Backing away, they didn't turn around until they were sure they could make it safely back in side the wards.

Sprinting back towards the Burrow, Harry began to feel uncomfortable, like he had something inside of him that was swelling, something that was trying to get out. Falling to his knees, he began to pant heavily. Ginny stopped and ran back to him, she could feel through him what he was feeling. Not knowing what else to do, she ran as fast as she could back towards the house.

Molly was in the kitchen, preparing a midday snack, when her daughter burst in through the door.

"Hurry mummy, Harry's hurting", with that Ginny raced back towards where Harry was.

Not even having a chance to ask what was wrong, Molly grabbed her wand from the kitchen table and went after her daughter. She found her at the edge of the orchard, near to where Dumbledore had created the wards. Harry was curled up on the ground, obviously in a great deal of pain

Ginny looked up at her approaching mother, and with a pleading look cried "help him mummy, please help him!"

Molly didn't know what to do, she had looked for any obvious injuries, but had found none. Placing her hand on his forehead, she was shocked to feel that Harry was burning up. Scooping the young boy into her arms, she raced as fast as she could back to the Burrow.

Placing Harry gently onto one of the sofas in the living room, she went over to the fireplace, took a pinch of floo powder and tossed it into the flames. As she got down onto her hands and knees, she shouted "Hogwarts, Madam Pomfrey's Office!" Sticking her head all the way into the cool blue flame, she was relived to see the Healer sat at her desk.

"Poppy, please come quickly, Harry's ill."

The tone of Molly's voice caused the Healer to grab her emergency bag and rush to the floo. Pausing, she called out "Turpick!" the elf appeared almost immediately, "please let the headmaster know that I'm going to the Burrow, and that I don't know how long I'll be".

Without bothering to make sure the elf had gone, she grabbed in pinch of powder and disappeared into the flames.

Dumbledore had just finished the last of the staff appraisals when a small house Elf popped into existence next to the desk at which he was sat.

"Good morning to you young Turpick, what may I do for you this fine morning?"

The Elf bowed deeply to the headmaster. "Sorry I is disturbing you headmaster, but Madam Pomfrey asked me to tell youse that she has had to leave Hogwarts, and she don't know how long she'll be".

Dumbledore smiled warmly at the Elf, "did she happen to mention where she was going?"

"Yes sir, she be going to the Burrow she said."

Dumbledore left his seat and knelt down in front of the Elf. "Did she say why she had to go to the Burrow?"

The Elf shook his head, his long ears making a slapping sound as he did so.

"Do you think you can take me there?"

A big smile appeared on the Elf's face as he nodded in reply, eager to help the venerable old wizard. Holding out a thin arm, which Dumbledore held gently, he snapped his fingers.

A little over eight hundred miles away, Poppy Pomfrey was desperately trying to find out what was wrong with the young boy in front of her. His temperature had risen to dangerous levels, and he seemed to be having some kind of fit or seizure. Every muscle in his thin frame seemed to be tensed. Just as she was about to cast another set of diagnostic charms, Dumbledore burst into the room.

Ignoring Molly and Ginny, who was softly crying at her mothers side, he strode purposefully toward the sofa that Harry was laid upon.

"Poppy, what is it? Do you know what is the matter with him?"

Poppy looked up at the concerned Headmaster, "as far as I can tell, he's having a magical overload. But I don't know what's causing it"

Dumbledore passed his own wand over Harry, muttering an incantation so quickly that nobody could understand him. His eye's widened in shock once he had finished.

"TURPIN!" he yelled, desperation evident in his voice.

The Elf once again appeared at his side. "Headmaster called for….". He started to say. But was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Take us to somewhere deserted NOW!"

Turpin quickly grabbed onto boy on the sofa and the Headmaster, and in the blink of an eye, was gone.

They appeared on a small island, nothing more than an outcrop of rock. Surrounded on all sides by an angry sea, waves crashing against the steep sided cliffs. A strong gusty wind whipped around them.

"GO!" Shouted Dumbledore to the Elf. With another click of it's fingers, the Elf disappeared.

Kneeling down next to Harry, Dumbledore raised him up into a sitting position.

"You have to do magic Harry, your life depends on it". Dumbledore had to shout in order make himself heard over the strong wind.

"Take my wand Harry, point it at that rock and say 'Reducto'"

Supporting Harry against his body, Dumbledore put his wand in the boys hand, and wrapped his much larger hand around it.

"Reducto, Harry, say it".

At first, nothing happened, Dumbledore thought that Harry had slipped into unconsciousness, but then he heard him faintly mumble.

"Force your magic out of you Harry. Reducto Harry, Reducto"

Dumbledore looked down at the small hand that was holding his wand, willing Harry to say the curse.

Harry could feel the smooth wood in his fingers, it felt alien to him. He didn't need it, so why was he holding it? He uncurled his fingers and let it fall from his grasp. He had heard a word 'Reducto'. At first he thought that his mind was playing tricks on him, but then he had heard it again, louder this time.

"Reducto" he had repeated, though in barely a whisper. He had felt his magic react to the command. "Reducto", he said it again, louder. He could feel the magic coursing down his outstretched hand.

Dumbledore slumped down when he saw Harry let go of his wand. He prepared himself for apperating away from the huge magical explosion he knew was coming.

Releasing Harry's arm in order to retrieve his wand, he was astonished when it didn't drop like he expected it to. A small spark of hope filled the old man. "That's it Harry, you can do it!" he exclaimed over the noise of the wind.

Harry had no control over the magic that was now searing its way down his arm.

"REDUCTO!"

A beam of pure magical energy, light blue in colour, burst out of his hand. Dumbledore watched in amazement as it came in contact with a huge boulder, two hundred yards away. The boulder was reduced to no more than sand by the force of the blast.

Harry climbed unsteadily to his feet, finding another target he took aim.

"REDUCTO!"

A huge outcrop of rock was sent crashing into the sea.

"REDUCTO!"

A crack, five foot wide appeared at one end of the small island.

Harry switched hands. Aiming at the other end of the Island.

"REDUCTO!"

Another huge outcrop was sent to a watery grave.

Harry put both hands out in front of him, aiming directly at the churning sea.

"REDUCTO!"

The sea exploded, or rather the seabed exploded, sending a plume of water hundreds of feet into the air.

Thoroughly drenched, Harry turned to the Headmaster.

"That feels better, can I go home now please?"

**I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who have added my story to their favourite lists, and to those who have left reviews.**

**So here is chapter ten, and Harry isn't even at Hogwarts yet. I've a feeling it's going to be a while before I get to that stage of the story, so please bare with me.**

**Any suggestions on how I can improve the story, or even improve my writing would be greatly appreciated.**


	11. Chapter 11

11th August 1986 (continued)

Dumbledore and Harry arrived back at the five bar iron gate that separated the Weasley's property from the small lane that led to Ottery St. Catchpole.

If it hadn't been for the Professors steadying hand, Harry would have fallen flat on his face.

"I don't think I like travelling that way sir. It felt like I was being squeezed all over."

Dumbledore chuckled as he opened the gate and allowed Harry to walk through first.

"It's called Apperating Harry, and I must admit that it takes a bit of getting used to. The elves do it far better than us humans."

Harry looked confused, "Elves sir? Are their really elves?"

"Yes Harry, there are really Elves, it was an Elf who works at Hogwarts who took us to that little island."

Harry stopped and looked up at Dumbledore while shielding his eyes with his hand from the midday sun.

"Sorry sir, I don't remember him. What happened to me, why did I feel like… like… Sorry I don't know how to put it into words.

"That's quite all right Harry. I will explain what happened to you when we get back to the Burrow."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, the only sound being made was the soft crunch of their footsteps on the gravel path.

As they rounded the bend, Harry spotted Ginny running towards them. She was sprinting as fast as she could, her long red hair streaming out behind her. She barely slowed down as she tackled Harry with a hug. Harry had to lift her up and swing her around to stop himself form being bowled over.

_Harry! What happened to you? I was so scared when I felt whatever it was that was happening to you._

Harry glanced up at Dumbledore before speaking out loud.

"Good to see you too Ginny! The Professor said he would explain to us what happened when we get home."

Ginny quickly let Harry go, completely forgetting that Dumbledore was with them. Shyly she held onto Harry's hand as they continued walking towards the house.

Upon entering the Burrow, they found Madam Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of tea in front of each of them. As soon as Harry stepped through the door, Molly rushed over and enveloped him in a gentle hug. Releasing him, she dropped down onto her knees and held him out at arms length.

"You brave, brave, boy. Ginny told us about the man in the woods, and how you made sure she was behind you all the time."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at this news, "would you mind showing me where this man was?"

Ginny and Harry looked at each other before turning back to look at him. "He was really mean sir, he tried to hurt us, we don't want to go back there", said Harry, with a quiver of fear in his voice.

Dumbledore pulled himself up to his full height, throwing off the illusion of a kindly old grandfather figure. He radiated power, waves of magical energy rolling off of him. Before them stood a being that demanded absolute respect.

"I don't think you will have anything to fear whilst you are with me, do you?" He said with a wink. "I dare say that Molly and Poppy would also like to accompany us, just to make sure you are in no danger."

The two children and two witches followed Dumbledore back out into the garden. The Headmaster turned to Harry and Ginny.

"Can you point in the direction where the man was for me please."

Harry lifted his arm and pointed towards the trees on the far side of the meadow.

"Very good Harry, let us go and see what we can find shall we?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

He led the way, with Harry holding onto Poppy's hand, and Ginny holding her mothers hand, following a few steps behind him. Upon reaching the tree line, Harry looked around nervously.

"We went through there sir." Harry said as he pointed through the trees.

Dumbledore lifted his wand as he strode towards the point that Harry had indicated. There was now no sign of the man that had attacked them. Harry and Ginny looked around wildly, as if expecting him to jump out from behind a tree and start firing spells at them again.

Dumbledore muttered a long incantation under his breath as he turned full circle with his wand extended.

"Well, one thing is clear, magic was certainly performed here. But the question is, by whom?"

To everyone's surprise, Ginny stepped forward and started tugging at Dumbledore's robes.

"Sir," she started in a small timid voice. "Harry took the nasty man's wand before we ran to get mummy."

Dumbledore crouched down in front of Harry and Ginny. "Well that was rather clever of you, do you know what happened to it?"

Harry looked at Ginny and shrugged his shoulders.

_I think I dropped it in the meadow when I got sick._

Returning his gaze to Dumbledore he softly answered him. "Sorry sir, I don't know what happened to it, I may have dropped it in the meadow before Molly came and found me. I'll try and look for it if it's important."

Dumbledore stood back up straight and started walking back towards the meadow.

"I know a handy little spell for finding lost things, we'll have it back in a jiffy". He said, looking back over his shoulder.

When they had reached the middle of the meadow, Dumbledore once more withdrew his wand.

"Accio wand".

Rowle's wand flew out of the grass from a few feet behind them. It was Harry who had spun around in time to catch it.

"Good reflexes Harry," praised Dumbledore. "Now if I may have it, we shall see what we can learn."

"Prior Incantato". A faint green mist appeared above the wand in Dumbledore's left hand. It condensed into the figure of a man. He could clearly be seen pointing his wand and crying 'crucio!'

Molly Weasley had to bite back the words she was about to utter. How could anyone even consider hurting little children with such a cruel curse.

"Shall we return inside and discuss what happened next, I for one am rather looking forward to hearing this story." Suggested Dumbledore.

"Before we do, let me give young Harry a quick check up. If he is as well as he looks I'll make my excuses and return to Hogwarts." With that Poppy ran her wand up and down Harry's body a couple of times. With a nod of her head she gave him a clean bill of health. "I'll see you at supper Headmaster, do please try and stay out of trouble Harry. If you need me for anything at all Molly, all you have to do is ask."

She accompanied them back to the Burrow, from where she flooed back to her office.

"Tea Albus?", asked Molly, and without waiting for a reply she busied herself by filling the kettle and placing it on the stove to boil. Going over to her fridge she produced a larger pitcher of pumpkin juice and placed it on the table in front of Harry and Ginny. Dumbledore quickly conjured a couple of glasses for the children.

Molly smiled her thanks, "drink up you two, you've had an eventful morning".

After Harry and Ginny had had two glasses of juice each, they started on their story. Dumbledore and Molly listened patiently without interrupting. The only interruption being Ron and the twins hammering down the stairs. Molly soon shooed them into the rear garden to play.

"Well that was a very interesting tale you told us Harry and Ginny. Very interesting indeed!" Exclaimed Dumbledore. "Molly is quite right in praising your bravery Harry, stepping in front of Ginny like that was a very selfless thing to do. Now I have a couple of questions for you. Did you see the nasty man perform an magic before he cast the… the.. How did you put it? Ah yes, the hurty curse at you?"

Harry scrunched his face up in concentration for a few seconds before answering. "Well he did pop out of nowhere, and he waved his wand around his head like this." Harry put his hand in the air and spun it around his head a couple of times.

"Interesting, very interesting. Harry, when you said you 'sucked' his magic from him, do you know if you took it all?"

"Yes sir, he had nothing left for me to suck out."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling merrily. " I believe then, if that is the case, that the nasty man will never be able to harm either one of you again. At least not with magic. You way have punished him more severely than any court would have been able to."

"How do you mean Albus, what exactly did Harry do to him?" Questioned Molly

Dumbledore turned his attention to her, deep in thought before answering.

Molly held out her hand. "let me finish the tea before you answer that."

Once she had returned to her seat at the table, she looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"As you may remember from your days at Hogwarts, you were taught about the soul and the magical core." Without waiting for a response he carried on. "They are in essence the same thing, in wizards and witches at least. Muggles, whilst having a soul, lack the magic core, as do squibs."

Harry raised his hand. "What's a squib sir?"

"A squib, Harry, is someone who has a witch and or a wizard as a parent, but possesses no magic of their own."

Dumbledore took a sip of his tea before continuing.

"Now when a wizard or witch use magic, the magic that is produced comes from the core part of the soul. The magic then recharges itself so more magic can be done."

Part of his explanation was aimed at the two children, who were listening attentively.

"Now what you did Harry, was use up his core completely. If this is indeed the case, his magic will not be able to replenish itself, because he has none left with which to do so."

Molly snorted back a laugh. "So by attacking these two, this basta…this man has had himself turned into a squib? Brilliant Harry!"

"Yes indeed, quite brilliant." Agreed Dumbledore.

"However, a word of caution. I do not know how you managed it. It, as far as I am aware, has never been done before. But I would advise against you doing it ever again. Unless of course, it were a matter of life or death. You see, you nearly died because of the extra magic you absorbed into your core."

Dumbledore pulled out his wand, and transfigured his now empty tea mug into a balloon.

"Please allow me to explain. You see this balloon? Well imagine it was your soul and magical core."

Dumbledore then preceded to blow up the balloon until it was nearly at bursting point. Pinching the end he held it up in front of the three others at the table. "This is what it would look like for a normal magical person who hasn't performed magic for a while. What you did Harry, was this."

He started to inflate the balloon again, Harry and Ginny placed their hands over their ears waiting for it to go bang.

Stopping again, he held the now dangerously over-inflated balloon in front of everyone. "This is what your soul was like when I found you on Molly's sofa. Had the nasty man not performed magic before you 'sucked' his magic out of him, this may well have happened."

Dumbledore pointed his wand at the balloon. With a loud 'bang', it popped.

"That is why I needed you to perform magic Harry, I needed you to reduce the size of your core. Over time, your core will grow of it's own accord, but it will only ever be big enough to hold your magic. Not somebody else's."

Dumbledore arose from his seat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and see an old friend of mine called Ollivander. He's a wand maker in Diagon Ally, and he knows every wand that he's ever sold. If this," he said, holding up the wand from the meadow, "is one of his, he will be able to tell me whose it was."

Looking at Molly he bowed slightly. "A pleasure as always Molly. Before I go a thought has occurred to me, what was it that caused you to leave the Burrows Wards in the first place?" He directed this question at the two children seated at the table.

Harry stood up to answer him. "It's Ginny's birthday today, and she's always wanted a pet of her own. I was trying to help her catch a rabbit." Turning to Ginny he continued. "I'm sorry Ginny, I'll have to try and make it up to you when I get some money."

Dumbledore smiled at the seriousness of Harry's little speech. Placing the wand back onto the table he took off his tall wizards hat.

"I'm sure I might have something suitable for a five year old birthday girl in here somewhere." He plunged his arm into the hat all the way up to his shoulder and started to feel around, a puzzled expression on his lined face.

"Here we are, " he exclaimed. Before pulling out an old boot.

"No, this will never do. Let me try again"

Plunging his arm in again he pulled out various items, including: a spanner, a belt, a walking cane, a broken quill and a white lace bra.

This last item caused the kids and Molly to roar with laughter.

Dumbledore frowned. "I'll have to remember to have a small chat with the elves at Hogwarts about keeping my laundry separate from everyone else's. Never mind, lets have one last go shall we?"

Once more he plunged his arm into his hat. When he withdrew it he had victorious expression on his face. He pulled out a pure white rabbit by its ears and placed it on the table in front of a stunned Ginny.

Stuffing all of the other items back into his hat, he replaced it on his head. "Your going to need a hutch for him, and straw, and food. The straw and food you'll have to find, but as for the hutch…". He gathered up the pieces of the burst balloon and transfigured them into a small wooden hutch.

"Happy Birthday Ginny. Enjoy your day, and make sure you eat far to many sweets this evening." Retrieving the wand from the table, he turned around a walked into the garden.

Molly, Harry and Ginny couldn't help but snicker at the sight of a bra strap hanging out of his hat behind his left ear.

16th August 1986

Albus Dumbledore was enjoying himself immensely, it had been a long time since he had been so totally stumped, and it amused him greatly. Normally he knew exactly the solution to any puzzle that presented itself to him. But not this time.

Harry Potter was the name of the current puzzle, and Dumbledore found himself directing more and more of his time and energy trying to solve it. Young Harry should, by rights, be dead. But he wasn't, he was very much alive. The things he could do, the amount of power that he had at his disposal, the amount of control he was able to exert. They were all far beyond what any normal six year old was capable of. Come to think of it, they were far beyond what any one hundred and six year old was capable of.

Yes, he thought to himself, young Harry is going to have to be watched very closely, very closely indeed. When the time was right, Dumbledore knew that he would have to play a major part in his training.

Walking down the gravel path that approach the Weasley's property Dumbledore stopped to admire the scenery around him. Even at his advanced age, he still took great delight in being able to appreciate the finer things in life. Putting his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a Lemon Drop. Popping it into his mouth he watched a pair of butterflies as they danced an aerial ballet in front of him. Smiling wistfully, he carried on down the path towards the Burrow.

Approaching the kitchen door, he could see the five eldest Weasley boys, towels in hands, heading towards the pond that he knew was on the edge of the woods. Just for a minute he was tempted to transfigure himself a towel and go and join them. Laughing at himself he walked towards the half open door that led into the kitchen.

Just as he entered, his sense of smell was assaulted by whatever it was that Molly had just cooked. Looking around he saw a tray of fresh scones left to cool on the windowsill. Congratulating himself on his timing, he called out.

"Molly, it's Albus, are you home?"

Molly Weasley came bustling into the kitchen, followed by Ron, Harry and Ginny.

"Why hello Albus, good to see you. Your just in time for our afternoon snack, would you care to join us? It's only some scones I'm afraid."

"Molly, it would give me the greatest of delights in joining you. Your cooking is legendary, after all."

After removing his tall Wizards hat, Dumbledore joined them at the old kitchen table. Harry and Ginny started sniggering between them, both of them looking at his hat as it lay on the table in front of him.

"Children! Stop it, what in Merlin's name are you laughing at?" Scolded Molly.

"Sorry mummy, but we were wondering if the hat still had all those things in it that we saw a few days ago."

Dumbledore looked at them with a twinkle in his eyes. "No need for you to worry, that little exercise reminded me to have a good clean out. You will be glad to hear that my hat is now considerably lighter. That reminds me, how is your pet rabbit? I hope you are taking proper care of it?

Ginny smiled shyly at the old wizard. "He's fine sir, he's out side. Daddy helped me make him a little pen that he can run around in."

Dumbledore nodded his approval, "and what, might I ask did you name the little fellow?"

Ginny started to blush as she lowered her head to try and hide her embarrassment.

"Go on Ginny, he wont be mad, tell him." Said Harry as he nudged her with his elbow.

Ginny looked up at the Headmaster sat opposite her. "I named him after you sir, I called him Dumbles."

Dumbledore clasped his hands over his chest and chuckled lightly at the little girl.

"A fitting name for him I'm sure."

Molly had retrieved her wand in order to levitate the scones onto the table when Dumbledore stopped her.

"Molly, do you mind if we try something?" Hearing no arguments he turned to Harry.

"Harry, I was very impressed by the magic you did the last time we were together. Do you think you would like to try doing some more for me?"

Harry looked around at Ginny, then at Molly before turning to look at Dumbledore. "If you think I can sir, I would love to."

"Albus, aren't you forgetting something? Harry is only six, I don't want him getting in trouble with the Improper use of Magic office at the ministry." Molly said, once more reaching for her wand.

Dumbledore placed his hand on hers, " Oh, I don't think we need concern ourselves with them Molly. They only monitor children between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Any magic performed by a child under eleven years old is attributed to being accidental."

Turning to Harry he continued. "Now Harry, what I would like you to do is to try and move the plate of scones from over there on the windowsill, to over here onto the table. Now you seem to be able to do magic without a wand, so it would be pointless to teach you the incantation and wand movement that normally accompanies the levitation spell. What I want you to do is feel with your magic, imagine if you will, that your magic is a part of you that you have complete control of. Just like your hand or arm."

Harry looked doubtful, but turned to Dumbledore, sat up a little straighter and said in the most confident voice he could muster, "I'll try sir, but what if I drop them? I'd hate to ruin the scones."

"No need to worry about that Harry, I'll catch them if they drop." Replied Dumbledore, withdrawing his wand.

Harry turned to look at the plate full of scones, closing his eyes, he felt deep inside of himself for his reserves of magic. Feeling something stirring he raised his right arm in the general direction of where he remembered the plate to be. He could feel… something. The something travelled slowly down his arm until it reached his out stretched fingers. Using nothing but willpower he forced what he could only assume to be his magic out of his body, and into the empty space between him and the scones.

Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see no physical manifestation of his magic. But he knew it was there. Pushing his magic out further he could feel it approaching the plate. Ever so gently he directed it to envelope the plate and its contents.

All the while Ginny had been a not so silent companion. She sent him a constant stream of encouraging words and feelings. At the same time she was studying him, seeing what he was doing and how he was doing it. She knew that if he was successful, then this was something that she would want to try and copy.

Ron watched what was going on, but he just wished that Harry would hurry up, he was hungry after all.

Harry tried feeling the weight of the plate and scones with his magic. He did this by forcing more of it under the plate until he thought there would be enough to try and lift it.

Molly looked on amazed as she saw the plate begin to rock on the windowsill. First one side lifted, then the other. It was as if it had a life of its own, and was trying desperately to jump from its current perch.

Harry knew that his magic was uneven around the plate, this was why it wasn't lifting smoothly. Closing his eyes once more he concentrated on evening out the amount of magic he was using, so that the plate would lift effortlessly. When he was happy with what he had done, he reopened his eyes. Concentrating once more, he was pleased to see the plate slowly begin to lift.

That was the hard part over and done with, the rest should be easy, he reasoned to himself. But he found keeping the plate balanced whilst trying to move it extremely difficult. Slowly it wobbled closer to him, a couple of times it almost tipped its contents all over the floor. Eventually the plate was hovering over the table, reducing the amount of magic he was using to keep the plate levitated, he lowered it on to the table.

Unfortunately he had reduced his magic too quickly, and the plate landed with rather a loud thump. Fortunately it had not been to high, otherwise it may well have broken.

Ginny jumped up and started clapping enthusiastically, before wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hug.

Harry simply grinned at her. He knew without having to ask, or even having to look at her how, pleased she was at what he had been able to do. He also knew that the first opportunity she got, she would be trying something similar as well.

Dumbledore also rose to his feet and applauded Harry.

"Well done, well done indeed my boy. That was astonishing, truly remarkable. To be able to wandlessly levitate anything with such control is something even grown witches or wizards are unable to do. I doubt that even I could do it without tiring myself considerably."

As Dumbledore sat back down, Harry looked at Ron, "well? I thought you said you were hungry?"

Ron grinned at him and helped himself to a couple of the still warm scones.

Turning back to Dumbledore, Harry looked thoughtful. " I must admit sir, I do feel a little tired. Is that usual after doing magic?"

After taking an offered scone from Molly, he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Imagine your magic is a muscle. Now, an unused muscle would not be very strong, would it?"

Harry shook his head in response.

"So if you started using it, you would tire easily. Do you not agree?"

Harry nodded, beginning to understand where the Headmaster was going with this.

"But the more you use the muscle, the stronger it will become. Magic is very similar, the more you use your magic, the stronger it will be. You will also find that your control of it will also become easier. Off course, it all depends on the amount of magic you possess. A small amount of magic, like a small muscle, will take time to grow and get stronger. It would seem though young Harry, that you possess a considerable amount of magic. Far more than a child of your age should in fact. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad thing, just like having large muscles isn't a bad thing. It's just a little… unusual, that's all."

With that Dumbledore returned to his scone and started to spread the jam that Molly had just provided.

After he had finished, Dumbledore spoke once again. "Now to the reason for my visit today. Do you remember the wand that you took from the bad man?"

Harry and Ginny both answered at the same time. "Yes sir."

"As I said I would, I showed it to an old friend of mine. Ollivander recognised it immediately as one of his creations. He told me that he sold it a number of years ago to a eleven year old boy by the name of Thorfinn Rowle."

Ron snorted as soon as he heard the name 'Thorfinn'.

"Ronald!" Scolded his mother.

Dumbledore winked at the young redhead. "A most unfortunate name. Why new mothers decide to give their offspring names such as 'Thorfinn' I will never understand. But I digress."

Quickly taking a bite out his scone, Dumbledore continued.

"Thorfinn Rowle is a known Death Eater. He is, or should I say was, a very vicious and dangerous wizard indeed. The Aurors and the Hit Wizards have been searching for him ever since you put an end to the war Harry."

Molly Placed a comforting arm around Harry's shoulders as she saw him getting upset. Ginny, sat on the other side of him, tried her best to send him her support through their link as she felt him sadden.

"We, that is to say, Arthur and I, only told Harry the true story of what happened a few days ago. He took it very well, but it's still new and painful for him." Explained Molly in reply to Dumbledore's questioning look.

Dumbledore slumped back in his seat. Taking off his half moon glasses, he wearily rubbed his lined face.

"I had forgotten about your relatives Harry, am I correct in assuming that they had neglected to tell you anything regarding your parents and the events that led to their deaths."

Harry sadly nodded his response.

"The Dursley's, and by extension, me, have a lot to answer for."

Replacing his glasses he lent forward and gently held Harry's hand in both of his.

"Please believe me when I tell you that I only had your best interests at heart Harry. I should have checked on you, or at least checked that your relatives were a suitable family to place you with."

Releasing Harry's hand, Dumbledore sat back in his chair.

"In my defence, I doubt you would find anybody in the magical community who would have believed that a blood relation, such as your aunt, would ever mistreat a child. You see, because there are so few magical children born every year, they are raised in as safe and loving environment as their parents can provide. Of course there are always going to be exceptions to this, but these exceptions are very rare and treated very harshly by the authorities. Molly and Arthur are the exception rather than the rule in the magical world."

Harry turned to look at the Weasley Matriarch.

"What he means is Harry, that because we have so many children, we are considered unusual in our community. Most magical families have one or two children, three at most."

Dumbledore nodded slowly in agreement before speaking again.

"I never imagined that when I left you with your relatives that they would treat you as anything other than one of their own. Just as magical children who are orphaned and have to stay with other magical relatives are treated. Minerva McGonagall warned me the night that we left you at your aunt and uncle's house that they were not the best kind of muggles, but I truly believed that you would be brought up and cared for in a loving and safe environment".

Dumbledore seemed to grow even older in front of Harry's eyes, gone was the elderly grandfather figure that he had become accustomed to over the last few weeks. Instead a very old man with far to many worries on his mind sat before him. Gone was the ever present twinkle in his eyes, this had been replaced by a look of regret and self pity.

Before Harry could speak, Dumbledore continued. "There were many reasons why I thought that you would be better off with your relatives Harry. But the main one was that I didn't want you thrust into the limelight at an early age. I didn't want you deprived of something that most people take for granted. A childhood. You see, had you been placed with one of the magical families, you wouldn't have been left alone. The press, especially, would have followed your every move. I doubted that you would have had any privacy, and this would have extended to the family that you were with."

While Dumbledore had been speaking, Ron had finished off the last of the scones that were left on the plate, and was looking around for something to do. Molly noticed this and indicated to him that he should go up to his room.

Although nobody would have described Harry as highly intelligent or particularly logical, he was still used to living in an environment that had sharpened his mind and made him quick witted. Not that he doubted the sincerity of what he was being told, but did raise one question that he wanted the answer to.

"Excuse me sir, but why couldn't Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have looked after me? I mean, they've been so kind to me and everything, and I don't think they've had any trouble because of me."

Dumbledore was about to reply but was interrupted by Molly.

"No Harry, we've had no trouble at all, and it has been a pleasure having you here. But I very much doubt that we would been given the task of raising you after your parents were killed. For a start, we didn't know your family all that well, and although all wizards and witched are related in some way or another, the Potters and the Weasley's have not had a direct relation in quite a few centuries. Come to think of it, neither have the Potters and the Prewett's"

Harry raised his had timidly.

"There is no need to raise your hand Harry, just ask your question." Molly said with a warm smile.

"Sorry, but who are the Prewett's?"

"My Name before I married Arthur was Molly Prewett".

Harry nodded his understanding.

Dumbledore looked at the now empty plate of scones that was sat on the Kitchen table. He could easily have used magic to refill the plate, but conjured food never quite tasted the same, nor did it provide any real sustenance.

Sighing to himself he took over from Molly's explanation. "There is also the fact to consider of the size of Molly and Arthur's family, at that time they had six children already, do you think it would have been fair to ask them to look after one more?"

Harry sadly shook his head.

Molly decided that she had had enough of this depressing conversation. In her mind all that mattered was that Harry was now safe and sound, and that he and her daughter had formed their special connection. Not that she was going to tell Dumbledore about that. No, she still didn't quite trust the man. As great a wizard as he may be, he had still proven that he was able to make mistakes.

"Ok you two, it's getting late. Would you mind going down to the pond and telling the boys that I've started cooking dinner? Don't get to close mind, George and Fred would like nothing more than to soak the pair of you, so be warned."

After watching the two youngster run from the kitchen, she turned to the headmaster.

"Would you care to join us for something to eat Albus?"

Dumbledore though back to the single scone that he had managed to eat. With deep regret he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Molly, there is nothing I would prefer more than to join you and sample more of your excellent cooking, but I have to return to Hogwarts. The house ghosts have requested a meeting with me regarding Peeves."

Molly laughed, "good luck with that, he was a nuisance back in my day."

As she started busying herself in the kitchen, Dumbledore stood to leave.

"One more thing before I depart, you and Arthur should seriously consider formally applying to be Harry's guardian, if not adopt him outright. As it stands, Harry is now considered to be a ward of the wizarding world. What that means is that any family can now apply to the Wizengamot to be his guardians".

Molly turned to look at Dumbledore from her place at the stove. "I'll be sure to mention it to Arthur when he gets home," she said distractedly.

Bidding her farewell, Dumbledore stepped out into the back garden. In the distance, toward where the pond was he could see a group of children laughing and joking with each other as they returned to the Burrow.

Although he knew that he didn't any seer abilities, well none that he knew of. He still felt as though something quite ominous was about to befall. Putting the feeling aside would have been foolhardy at best, but at the moment he could see nothing that he could do to protect Harry and the Weasley's any further.

Pulling a long stemmed pipe from his robes, he lit it with his wand and made his way back up the gravel path towards the apparition point.

Thorfinn Rowle slipped quietly away once he had seen Dumbledore leave. The meddling old fool had not even bothered to re-home the Potter brat. That was a mistake he would live to regret. He turned eastwards, in the direction he knew an old acquaintance lived. It was going to take him a few days to get to where he was going, especially on foot. But to his mind, his revenge was more than worth it. Yes, in a few days he would put wheels in motion that would destroy Harry Potter for good.


End file.
